Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 20

Philosophy - Essay Example Although it is not possible to say he describes the absolute truth in his works, the lens he uses to look at history—realism—is one of the most valuable and significant. What was Thucydides’ political philosophy? Simply put, people are not perfect and rarely have the best intentions of the human race in mind when they act, in particular if they are leaders of various countries. Thucydides looked at the characters and conflicts and his time and tried to understand why events happened the way they did. He didn’t act in a hardcore ideological way and he did let his curiosity motivate him, but he had decided views about politics. Although he admired Pericles, he hated demagogues who would rile up the masses and force the country and its leaders to act out of the basest of instincts. All of the issues and problems of politics that this great man came up with and first observed thousands of years ago are with us to this day. We can see the philosophical legacy of Thucydides present in today’s world amongst analysts who look at the world from a position of realism. These people would look, for example, at Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and they would say that Russia’s motives in invading Afghanistan were rooted in self-interests, vested interests, the desire to perpetrate the communist ideology in the whole world, the amassing of more powers that would tilt the balance of power in its favor and against the interests of its Cold War adversary, the United States. To the realist and to Thucydides, expansion of power is often a nation or person’s motivating force and ambition. States and people compete for economic resources and the highest degree of security possible. States value military and economic strength and they are stopped in its tracks only when the level of power of opposing claimants are stronger or just as equal. When analyzing a war—Thucydides

Consider the doctrine of judicial precedent in the law of England and Essay

Consider the doctrine of judicial precedent in the law of England and Wales, having particular regard to its advantages and disadvantages. Cite relevant case law examples in support of your answer - Essay Example The majority of those who support precedent tend to overlook the justice seeking benefit provided by this concept, and are inclined to praise its practical value (Bader & Cleveland, 2011, p. 35). As such, precedent is the intersection of law and justice. The principal value of precedent arises not from its capacity to commit judges to some specific course of action. This value is due to its capability to generate constraint, while permitting a certain amount of discretion. The common law rests on a strong rebuttable presumption that earlier decisions are to be followed (Waddams, 2009, p. 132). It does not require an inviolable presumption in this regard. The contention that stare decisis leads to a rebuttable presumption has been deemed to be incomplete in some quarters. This is due to the fact that there is no indication regarding the strength of the presumption. Moreover, there is an absence of precision regarding the circumstances and reasons for being rebutted (Waddams, 2009, p. 133). This enables citizens to conduct their affairs in a manner that is certain and predictable under the law. Speculative traders could benefit significantly as they would be in a position to determine the stance to be adopted. For instance, the French Civil Code was aimed at protecting French citizens from the prejudicial behaviour of the courts of the Old Regime. Similarly, the fear and chaos prior to and during World War II, was to some extent due to the destruction of certainty and consistency of the law (Luyulei, 2011). For every conceivable situation, precedent has the capacity to provide an analogy. In conjunction with the flexibility possessed by the doctrines of distinguishing and ratio decidendi, the courts are enabled to make incremental adjustments to the law, in order to satisfy the requirements of justice (Luyulei, 2011). Due to precedence, a case builds upon the other, and the law experiences logical development. Moreover,