Blog #2 – What is the relationship between law and philosophy?

What is the relationship between law and philosophy?

Provide three steps for your research with a brief explanation of how this information will lead to addressing your question.

In the first research round, I plan to establish the basics of Law – what it is and how it impacts us. Law is a broad term and can encompass almost every aspect of our lives, even though we may never realize it. In this research round, I plan to analyze the function of laws and what laws aim to achieve. Further, I hope to look into where laws have faltered in the past and what incites a law to change. For simplicity’s sake, I plan to focus my examples on Canadian Law and history, though Law is different in every nation. In my second round of research, I will apply these similar concepts in analyzing the meaning and functions of philosophy. Similar to law, philosophy is a general term and has served several purposes throughout history. In this round, I aim to look at how philosophies have influenced individual morals and decisions and how certain philosophical ideas have become widespread. I plan to look into a few of these common philosophical questions and beliefs and examine how they affected what people as a whole deemed acceptable in society. In my final round of research, I hope to compare my previous research of each separate topic and discuss what similarities and differences exist between the two terms. In this round, I plan to analyze how philosophy and law can coincide and look into instances where it has done so, and what results emerged.

Provide 5 valid sources that might be useful to address the question.

Government of Canada, D. (2017, October 16). What is the law? Retrieved February 26, 2021, from https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/just/02.html

Law and Culture Conference 2015: Change. (2015, September 09). Retrieved February 26, 2021, from https://criticallegalthinking.com/2015/04/23/law-and-culture-conference-2015-change/

Law philosophy relationship: Law, philosophy & morality relationship. (2021, February 01). Retrieved February 26, 2021, from

The Relationship Between Law, Philosophy and Morality

Philosophy of law. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-law

What is philosophy? (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2021, from https://philosophy.fsu.edu/undergraduate-study/why-philosophy/What-is-Philosophy

Explain how this question will have implications to other individuals and/or my community.

Even though we may not realize it, Law surrounds and regulates some of the most redundant, simplest tasks of our lives. When a person gets in their car, the Law surrounding vehicles and safety on the roads simultaneously comforts and keeps them on alert. When someone is angry at another person for a specific reason, perhaps the knowledge of the consequences of causing harm to another individual stops them from punching that person – or perhaps it is their moral compass that halts them from acting on their impulse, which may derive from philosophical values. Understanding the law and its importance is will have implications for our community because we are all members of its society – and understanding the importance of why we have regulations or freedoms allows us to better appreciate and follow them, as well as become aware of the consequences that can result. Having knowledge of how certain beliefs came to be through philosophy may help us understand the origins of commonplace values and how they have integrated themselves into our society. For example why we have driving regulations, rules on custody and what is deemed right or wrong. If the community as a whole understands the origins and importance of certain values from the past, they may set the tone for what we may value in the future and what we may change in terms of ethics or laws as our society continues to change.

Thanks for reading!