2019400309 Legal Philosophy

VILLAROMAN, Janine Monica D. Midterm Exam

I.
For a sentence to have meaning, it must pass three tests which are: verification,
correspondence, and falsification. Failure to pass these three means that there is no truth content
and therefore one cannot talk about it.
II.
According to Wittgenstein, meaning is derived from the use of the word. Even if it is not
verifiable, falsifiable, or no correspondence, as long as there is meaning in the use of the word
then one can use it.
III.
There are five (5) arguments laid down by Saint Thomas Aquinas in proving the existence
of God. These are: (1) Argument from Motion; (2) Argument from Causation; (3) Argument from
Contingency; (4) Argument from Degrees of Perfection; and (5) Argument from Design.
The first argument derives itself from motion, providing that nothing or no one do not have
the ability to move itself; thus implying that everything that is in motion is being moved by another
thing. This series of motion from one thing to another cannot go on infinitely and that this must
have begun with a prime mover, which has not by itself moved or has been acted upon by another
to move. In this regard, the prime mover is understood to be God.
The argument from causation provides that every cause must have been caused by another.
This efficient cause is perceived as the one thing which is accountable for a change in another
thing. Just like the first argument, this chain of efficient causes cannot be infinite, and there must
be an unchangeable first cause which led to all the changes thereafter. The first cause is known to
be God.
The third argument stems from possibility and necessity, or otherwise known as
contingency. He argues that beings have the capability to exist and not to exist which he called
contingent beings. If each contingent being has the capability not to exist, then there must have
been a time in which the being has not existed. Assuming every being is a contingent being, one
could go back to a time wherein nothing existed; and there must have been something that brought
contingent beings into existence, which Aquinas called the ‘necessary being’. This necessary being
that caused the existence of every contingent being is perceived to be God.
The argument from gradation of being or sometimes known as ‘degrees of perfection’
posits that every being displays different degrees of perfection, and there must be one perfect being
above everyone else – that perfect being is God.
The last argument is the argument from design. Every being has its own purpose or goal
by which he is working towards. However, not all things do not have the knowledge to do so, and
so these things are being directed by someone or something in order for it to achieve its purpose.
The intelligent being who guides all natural beings to their purpose is God.
IV.
In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Plato explained that there exists a vast collection of ‘forms’
in our everyday lives physically such as an apple, chair, or tree, and through our emotions or
actions. These things are the aspects of our reality and are perceived through the senses. However,
forms do not change through time and are perceived through man’s reasoning. The cave in the
allegory represents the everyday life of mankind in which each man does not really know the
reality because one believes that the reality is what he sees, but it is actually not. The shadows or
forms represent what a man believes is true, but then the real truth or the true form is what is
really behind him. However, he may not be aware that there is something behind him, so he does
not have the ability to know the truth. Once he leaves the cave, the truth will finally be revealed to
him, thus the ideal form.
Plato views a just society, or ideal state as having three classes: the guardians who are the
thinkers who rule the people, the auxiliaries which are soldiers who defend the city, and the
producers such as farmers and artists. In this ideal state, the members of the society are only
allowed to have one role or occupation, that which is best suited for him. A just society is achieved
by these roles because each role provides what the society needs, and if one acted according to the
role he chose, he would then contribute to the society as a whole. If everyone does this without
overlapping roles or having two or more roles in the society, then every role would be practiced at
its full potential, which leads to Plato’s ‘ideal state’.
V.
The ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges upheld that the 14th Amendment on Due
Process and Equal Protection requires all the states to allow and recognize same-sex marriages.
The concept of telos in marriage or the ultimate purpose of the union of man and woman in
marriage is procreation. In the case of Obergefell, the telos of marriage has not been recognized
simply because allowing same-sex marriage defeats the purpose of marriage itself – which is to
procreate and build a family. A same sex couple obviously do not have the ability to reproduce
offspring of their own kind, and therefore they could not fulfil the purpose of marriage.
VI.
In the case of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution protects the
woman’s freedom to resort to abortion without the restriction of the government. The Supreme
Court also provided for the regulation of abortion in accordance with the three trimesters of
pregnancy. During the first trimester, abortion could not be prohibited by the government; on the
second trimester, the government could regulate, provided these regulations are for health reasons;
and on the third trimester, the government may prohibit abortion except for reasons such as the
saving the mother’s life.
Aristotle’s concept of potentiality and actuality has been recognized in this case. The
concept of potentiality refers to the potential or the possibility which a thing has the ability to
possess. During the first trimester, the Court has taken into consideration that the fetus forming
inside a woman’s body does not have the full potential yet, and that it is still a part of her, leaving
to her the decision whether or not to abort the baby. During the last trimester, the fetus has grown
into its full potential waiting to be born in the world, and thus is already a separate entity from the
mother. When the fetus also reaches the third trimester, it achieves actuality, wherein its possibility
to become a full human being have already come into existence.
VII.
Utilitarianism provides for the standard of measurement of making laws, in which the goal
of the law itself is to promote the common or the greater good. Utilitarianism according to Jeremy
Bentham posits that what is important is the end, no matter what the means to achieve it is, thus
the ends justify the means. He also discussed the ‘greatest happiness principle’ which provides
that if the law’s aim is to achieve the greatest happiness for the greater part of the community or
the society, then the law or the act is good. He gave the gauge on pain and pleasure, wherein he
stated that each lawmaker is concerned with avoiding pain of the people and achieving pleasure
for most. Here, if pleasure is greater than pain, then the act is good. On the other hand, John Stuart
Mill’s Utilitarianism provides that actions are right and good if they tend to promote overall
happiness, and are wrong is they produce the opposite of happiness. Mill focused on the effects or
consequences of people’s actions and not merely on their rights or emotions. He said that
utilitarianism is in itself a standard of right conduct, that people, knowing what could produce
pleasure to them would do what is appropriate for them to achieve such. Knowing that an act would
produce pain for them or for the people around them, he would tend to avoid such act in order to
avoid punishment.
VIII.
Positive Law is the law by will of the authority who made it, or stems from the power of
whoever enacted the law. This law is enacted by the authorities to protect the rights and the welfare
of its people and to maintain order in the society. Given that there is no necessary connection
between law and morality, or that morality has nothing to do with the legality of the law, the basis
of the efficacy of the law lies in whether or not the people’s rights are protected, and that those
who trample upon these rights receive necessary punishment for their actions. If these laws result
to a sense of order and security for the majority of the people, then the law is deemed effective.
IX.
In People v. Echegaray, the Court ruled that the Death Penalty Law is not unconstitutional.
The Court held that rape is a dastardly contemptuous violation of a woman’s spiritual integrity,
physical privacy and psychological balance. The act of rape also results to a shock to mankind,
especially the rape of a ten year old girl. Applying Bentham’s idea on pleasure, that is “the greatest
good for the greatest number of people”, death penalty given on such a case fulfils the criterion,
by which, criminals who commit such a crime would be meted out with the penalty, which shall
lead to the pleasure for a greater number of people, knowing that someone who did such a cruel
act would receive an appropriate punishment. Following Bentham’s principle, it is appropriate for
one person to receive the death penalty knowing that if the Court does so, the greater number of
people would trust the Court and their lawmakers, and would also have a sense of security and
justice.
X.
Natural moral law provides for the laws wherein man uses reason to go on with their
everyday lives. It is basically common sense and justice according to what men naturally know
and perceive. Laws that, even though they aren’t written, are followed subconsciously by men
because they know what is good and what is evil falls under natural moral law. Civil laws, those
made by man, are based on the natural moral law. Laws are made to prescribe a certain act, or to
punish a certain wrong.
XI.
One should be silent if he cannot speak in terms of facts because every statement should
be supported by facts, and without such facts to back the statements, then the statement would
merely be gibberish, or one that does not have any meaning at all.
XII.
There was no violation of the natural moral law by supporting and giving contraceptives
to the public because the state simply aims to protect the rights of the people and their freedom to
choose to plan their families.
BONUS
Incommensurability – no person can judge wether or not the meaning is true or false because
situations are different at the time the words are uttered.
Family resemblances – there are similarities in words even if beliefs are different