Dimensions Of Politics And English Jurisprudence

DIMENSIONS OF POLITICS AND ENGLISH JURISPRUDENCE Understandings of law and politics are intrinsically bound up with broader visions of the human condition. Sean Coyle argues for a renewed engagement with the juridical and political philosophies of the Western intellectual tradition, and takes up questions pondered by Aristotle, Plato, Augustine, Aquinas and Hobbes in seeking a deeper understanding of law, politics, freedom, justice and order. Criticizing modern theories for their failure to engage with fundamental questions, he explores the profound connections between justice and order and raises the neglected question of whether human beings in all their imperfection can ever achieve truly just order in this life. Above all, he confronts the question of whether the open society is the natural home of liberals who have given up faith in human progress (there are no ideal societies), or whether liberal political order is itself the ideal society? sean coyle is Professor of English Laws at the University of Birmingham. DIMENSIONS OF POLITICS AND ENGLISH JURISPRUDENCE SEAN COYLE c a m b r i d g e u n i v e r s i t y p re s s Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521196598 © Sean Coyle 2013 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2013 Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by the MPG Books Group A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Coyle, Sean. Dimensions of politics and English jurisprudence / Sean Coyle. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-521-19659-8 (Hardback) 1. Jurisprudence–Great Britain. 2. Jurisprudence–United States. 3. Law–Philosophy. 4. Liberalism. I. Title. KD640.C69 2013 349.41–dc23 2012047170 ISBN 978-0-521-19659-8 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. To my parents ‘I think we have real progress in philosophy when a disputant thinks little of victory as compared with the discovery of what is just and true’ – attributed to Licentius (Saint Augustine, Contra Academicos, Bk 1.3) CONTENTS Preface ix Introduction part i. 1 19 Jurisprudence 21 1. Jurisprudence a