Great IdeasLiving together
Laws and lawgivers
Where laws come from, why we obey them, and when they can be wrong.
The question
Where do laws come from, and why should we obey them? Can a law be wrong?
How the books answer
Oldest first. Each stop is our own short summary of what the author argued; follow the link to the rung for the whole lesson.
c. 441–401 BC
Sophocles, Antigone
When King Creon forbids the burial of her brother, Antigone appeals to laws older than any king. Creon stands for the law of the city, which keeps order. Sophocles sets the two side by side and lets both suffer for their stubbornness.
“For their life is not of today or yesterday, but for all time, and no man knows when they were first put forth.”
c. 360–348 BC
Plato, Statesman, Philebus, Laws and the Seventh Letter
In his last dialogue, Plato imagines three old men planning laws for a new city. He suggests each law should begin with a preamble that explains its reason, so citizens obey because they are persuaded, not only because they are afraid. Law, for him, should be a teacher of good character.
“Tell me, Strangers, is a God or some man supposed to be the author of your laws?”
Go to the rung: Plato: Statesman, Laws and the Seventh Letter
c. 340–322 BC
Aristotle, Politics and The Athenian Constitution
Aristotle asks whether it is better to be ruled by the best man or by the best laws. He leans toward law, which he calls reason without passion, since any human ruler can be swayed by anger or desire. But laws are general, so wise judges are still needed for cases the law did not foresee.
1265–1274
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part
Aquinas defines a law as a rule of reason for the common good, made by whoever cares for the community, and made known. He describes an order of laws: God's eternal law, the natural law that reason can grasp, and human laws that apply it. Human laws, he says, should not try to forbid every vice, only the most serious harms.
“it is nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated.”
1651
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
Hobbes defines law more simply: the command of the sovereign, the power that the people have set over themselves. Where there is no common power, he says, there is no law. People obey because the sovereign keeps the peace that protects their lives.
1748
Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws
Montesquieu compares the laws of many lands. He argues that good laws must fit the people they serve: their kind of government, their climate, trade, religion and customs. This is the spirit of the laws, and he also argues that liberty needs the power to make laws kept apart from the power to carry them out and to judge.
the Constitution, 1787
The American founders, The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States is a written law above ordinary laws. It sets up the government, limits its powers and gives a way to change it by amendment. It names itself the supreme law of the land, and the people, not a king, are said to establish it.
1785–1797
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, The Critique of Practical Reason, and the writings on ethics and right
Kant turns to a law inside each person. A rational being, he says, can give itself the moral law and follow it freely, and this self-rule is what makes people worthy of respect. He ends one book by saying two things fill him with awe: the starry sky and the moral law within.
“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within.”
1820
G. W. F. Hegel, The Philosophy of Right
Hegel argues that laws, property, the family and the state are freedom made real in the world, not just limits on it. The first command of right, he says, is to be a person and respect others as persons. He thinks a people's laws grow out of its history.
“Be a person and respect others as persons.”
For young readers
Laws are rules for a whole country or town, like stopping at red lights or not taking things that aren't yours. They help people live together safely.
But where do they come from? Some writers say good laws follow rules of right and wrong that are true everywhere. Others say a law is whatever the government decides. Many say a good law should have a good reason that people can understand, just as a good family rule does.
Talk about it
- What is a rule in your home? What is the reason for it?
- Plato says a law should explain itself. Do you follow rules better when you know why?
- Can a law ever be wrong? What should a person do then?
- Why is it helpful to have laws written down?
- Which is better: a very wise ruler or very good laws?
Where else on the site
- What Law Is
- Sources of American Law
- Limited Government and the Rule of Law
- Separation of Powers
- Rules and Laws
- Trial Courts and Appellate Courts
Every rung tagged with this idea:
These pages are our own short synthesis, written for families. They were inspired by Mortimer J. Adler's Syntopicon, the index of great ideas in volumes 1 and 2 of Great Books of the Western World, but the questions, summaries and groupings are ours, not the Syntopicon's. Short excerpts come from public-domain translations, credited where they appear.