Equality before the Law and Precedent

The paper explores the nature of the principle of equality before the law, understood as the formal justice criterion that like cases must be treated alike, as a rationale of the rule or system of precedent. The first part discusses and rejects Kelsen's thesis on the conceptual insignificance of that principle in the sphere of the application of the law, identified uniquely with a logical criterion related to generality of rules and simple legality. The second part argues for the ethical relevance of equality before the law as a reason for a legal system to have a rule of defeasibly binding precedent.     

The Regular Practice of Morality in Law

Abstract. This article examines the possibility of moral considerations and arguments serving as validity conditions of law in legal positivist theory. I argue that, despite recent attempts, this possibility has yet to be established. My argument turns on a defense of Joseph Raz's Sources Thesis, yet I do not adopt his famous “argument from authority.” Rather, I offer a renewed defense of the distinction between creation and application of law and argue that moral considerations and arguments, whether recognized in law or not, remain arguments about the modification of law.     

论冲突中的道德和法律

道德和法律的冲突来源于道德的多元化。在专制主义下 ,道德和法律的冲突的调整方式是取消冲突或放任冲突。这两种方式被历史证明是行不通的。适度冲突论是解决道德和法律冲突的设想 ,目的就是要在二者适度的冲突中推动法治不断地进步。     

Morality and Law

Abstract. The controversy over law and morality between positivists and normativists is largely a result of failure on both sides to understand the idea of authority. The author argues that Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and Hobbes held a common notion of legal authority that was distinctively moral. They all saw the virtue of law (and the source of legal obligation) in the equal protection it provides for all against the disorder to which passion makes men vulnerable, and not in the justice of its provisions. Michael Oakeshott, among contemporary theorists, best illustrates this approach to a resolution of the differences between positivists and normativists.     

The Morality of Compensation through Tort Law

In this paper, I will focus on the normative structure of tort law. Only by elucidating the point or rationale of holding the wrongdoer responsible to the victim can we understand the value of having tort law instead of establishing other mechanisms of redress, such as a social insurance scheme. Ultimately, I will argue that the value of interpersonal justice, which underlies tort law, might not suffice to fully justify it in a given community. It all depends on whether victims of accidents are able to vindicate their rights against wrongdoers on a regular basis. If social conditions make this unlikely, then the state might be morally required to implement other forms of compensation, either replacing tort law altogether or supplementing it with social insurance in cases where private justice mechanisms tend to fail more dramatically.     

论经济法的道德性

从本源上看,经济法的道德性来自对企业的社会责任伦理、公平交易伦理、经济行政责任伦理、可持续发展伦理以及公平分配伦理等社会经济伦理的法律提升。而一旦现实的经济伦理道德进入经济法领域,就使得经济法表现出独特的、鲜明的道德性特征。具体而言,经济法的道德性表现在经济法律规范的价值内涵、经济法对社会中各种利益的价值判断标准、经济法的非强制性和经济法对社会生活发挥能动作用的形式等方面。     

刑法和道德的界限考察

刑法和道德之间存在一定程度的联系,两者都是调整人类行为的社会规范,如果能在两者之间划出一条清晰的界限作为调整犯罪行为或道德行为的标准,显然非常重要。应从刑法理论、司法实践及几种道德分类等方面去剖析道德和刑法的界限问题。     

Deception in Morality and Law

Law and Philosophy -     

Law and Morality at War

Through a critical engagement with Jeremy Waldron’s work, as well as the work of other writers, I offer an account of the relative scope of the morality of war, the laws of war, and war crimes. I propose an instrumentalist account of the laws of war, according to which the laws of war should help soldiers conform to the morality of war. The instrumentalist account supports Waldron’s conclusion that the laws of war justifiably prohibit attacks on civilians even if it turns out that some civilians lack a moral right not to be killed. Importantly, the instrumentalist account also offers what Waldron thinks impossible: a non-consequentialist defense of the failure of the laws of war to prohibit the killing of nonthreatening combatants. Finally, I argue that new war crimes can be broader than the morality of war as well as established laws of war and that many of the arguments for defining war crimes more narrowly than either the morality of war or the laws of war are unconvincing. In all of these ways, I hope to carry forward Waldron’s project of exploring the relationship between law and morality in war.     

法律遭遇道德的尴尬——比较法视野中的乱伦行为

在我们传统的观念中,乱伦是指存在于同辈或不同辈份的具有亲属关系的男女之间的性关系,这种性关系为大部分社会所禁止和惩处。尽管由于社会风俗、习惯、文化传统的不同,不同国家对乱伦的观念和处置也存在差异,但古今中外的法律都在不同程度上对其加以规范。以《唐律》为典范,我国封建法律对乱伦罪有非常详细的规定;当代西方各主要国家的法律中同样存在着类似的规范。从比较法的视角考察这些制度有助于确定我国未来规范乱伦的立法取向。     

软法的道德维度——兼论道德软法化

软法乃公共治理在全球范围勃兴之产物。软法亦＂法＂,软法乃非典型意义之＂法＂;软法与硬法相对而生,而＂法＂之共性则彰显软法与道德质的区别。道德不是软法,但理论与实证均表征道德可以软法化。道德软法化是＂以德入法＂于公共治理领域的又一次渗透,是道德思维在软法秩序中的延伸;且此种延伸在＂依法治国＂、＂法治立国＂的当下必须遵循一定的界限与尺度,以发挥其的良好独特调整功效。     

法律之所遗道德之所补--论依法治国与以德治国相结合

法治与德治是相辅相成的.以德治国同依法治国一样都符合宪法规定.依法治国与以德治国相结合的关键是国家工作人员,特别是领导干部.     

The Various Relations between Law and Morality in Contemporary Legal Philosophy

This paper is intended to be a summary of the author's views on the relationship between law and morality worked out over the past three decades in jurisprudence. The paper preliminarily clarifies the matter by isolating some lines of cleavage separating different questions askable about this relationship. With this done, the author argues for two theses. One, that judges are obligated to use morality in their decisions in particular cases; and two, that the morality judges are obligated to use in their judicial reasonings, is best seen as the natural lawyer sees it, namely, as being part of the law that obligates judges in their role as judges. The author not only believes these theses to be true; he also thinks that these theses are practically important, in that their acceptance by judges (and by the legal culture that reinforces judges) makes for better judging.     

法与道德关系模式的历史反思

西方学者在法与道德关系的争论中提出了许多模式 ,著名的有康德模式、富勒模式、哈特模式等。这些模式虽然在某种程度上能揭示法与道德的关系 ,但都不够理想。法和道德都有观念、规范或制度、秩序三个层次 ,二者的观念层次是相通的和深藏于现在一般所说的价值观念之中。另外 ,在秩序层次二者也是很难区分的 ,因为它都落实在人的行为中 ,而一个行为 ,如果符合秩序的要求或构成社会秩序的话 ,可能同时具有法律意义和道德意义。这样 ,法与道德的区别主要存在于规范或制度层次。     

Law versus Morality as Regulators of Conduct

It is evident that both law and morality serve to channel ourbehavior. Law accomplishes this primarily through the threatof sanctions if we disobey legal rules. Morality too involvesincentives: bad acts may result in guilt and disapprobation,and good acts may result in virtuous feelings and praise. Thesetwo very different avenues of effect on our actions are examinedin this article from an instrumental perspective. The analysisfocuses on various social costs associated with law and morality,and on their effectiveness, as determined by the magnitude andlikelihood of sanctions and by certain informational factors.After the relative character of law and of morality as meansof control of conduct is assessed, consideration is given totheir theoretically optimal domains—to where moralityalone would appear to be best to control behavior, to wheremorality and the law would likely be advantageous to employjointly, and to where solely the law would seem desirable toutilize. The observed pattern of use of morality and of lawis discussed, and it is tentatively suggested that the observedand the optimal patterns are in rough alignment with one another.