1 Comment
founding
Aug 19, 2023Liked by Adrian Vermeule

I am particularly drawn to the final paragraph in the passage cited, in particular the final line after the punctuation mark colon: "Therefore, it is proper that Caesar should be the father and the son, the lord and the minister of justice: father and lord in dispensing justice and, when it has been dispensed, in maintaining it; thus, he should also be the son in reverencing justice and the minister in administering it in its abundance."

In the affairs of humans, in particular in the field of human conflict, we are all father and son both*. [* I use the term "father" in the parental sense, no different from "Man" subsumes all humans], an administrator of law cannot adequately discharge an administrator's duty without first-hand knowledge as both dispenser and recipient. Far from power overreach or potentially dual (conflicting) roles, this ideal formulation lays the ground work for a Duty of Care that cannot be had without first hand knowledge as both giver and taker. I further advance the theory this requirement is the sine qua non of one other element in the just dispensation of law - MUTUALITY - for law, in the end, is but a social contract in a human society.

cc: Adrian Vermeule

Expand full comment