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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | | |
What is Law? | |
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< | Our course of study has focused on two prongs, the first of which is figuring out what “Law” is. We have looked to some great legal theorists for guidance. While they offer interesting perspectives on the law and its practice, I will analyze law from sociologist Emile Durkheim’s perspective to show Law is a religion and explore the implications of this revelation. | >
> | Our course of study has focused on two prongs, the first of which is figuring out what “Law” is. While the great legal theorists we looked to for guidance offer interesting perspectives on the law and its practice, I will analyze law from sociologist Emile Durkheim’s perspective to show Law is a religion and explore the implications of this revelation. | | | Durkheim on Religion
According to Durkheim, every known society has a religion. He says a religion is any institution whose function is to perpetuate society. Religion is the society divinized; society creates religion as a manifestation of its values and morals. Thus, a religion emerges by separating the sacred (transcendental, extraordinary phenomena) and the profane (mundane, everyday activities). Members of society find solidarity through worship of the religion, that is, performing ceremonies that reinforce the belief in and power of the religion. They develop a sense of “us” versus “them.” Religion gives the members something to believe in and rally around. * | | | The second prong of inquiry has been figuring out what law does for us. According to Durkheim, the deities that the members of society worship (the transcendental notions of justice, fairness, etc. for us) are projections of the power of society. Thus, in perpetuating society, religion propagates the powers that drive society. This has two different, but not mutually exclusive, implications for us. In the first sphere, Law, in generating society, further empowers those who are already in positions of power. In the second, Law is a vehicle for society to reflect the changing currents in society and to bring changes to it.
Protector of the Status Quo | |
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< | Durkheim’s theory provides that our religion exists to preserve the status quo. Since Law is the projection of the power of society, those projections are the values held by those who make law (e.g. legislatures, judiciaries, and interest groups). In effect, the lawmakers’ values become law and the rest of society lives by that law. Because the rest of society, the devout worshipers, follows the law, the lawmakers continue to be in power, promulgating preservation of the status quo. For our class, the ideals of Law we internalized from the lawmakers – that it confers status and respect and is a practical endeavor – help sustain status quo. In “Transcendental Nonsense,” Cohen makes a pertinent point that a judicial decision is a social event, which is a product of “social determinants and an index of social consequences” (843). The decision’s true meaning comes from the social forces, the “human psychology, economics and politics” in play among the lawmakers. In this realm, the lawmakers are the priests who guide us to the right (Law) from wrong (anti-Law). | >
> | Durkheim’s theory provides that our religion exists to preserve the status quo. Since Law is the projection of the power of society, those projections are the values held by those who make law (e.g. legislatures, judiciaries, and interest groups). In effect, the lawmakers’ values become law and the rest of society lives by that law. Because the rest of society, the devout worshipers, follows the law, the lawmakers continue to be in power, promulgating preservation of the status quo. For our class, the ideals of Law we internalized from the lawmakers – that it confers status and respect and is a practical endeavor – help sustain status quo. In “Transcendental Nonsense,” Cohen makes a pertinent point that a judicial decision is a social event, which is a product of “social determinants and an index of social consequences” (843). The decision’s true meaning comes from the social forces, the “human psychology, economics and politics” at play among the lawmakers. In this realm, the lawmakers are the priests who guide us to the right (Law) from wrong (anti-Law). | | | Vehicle for Change | |
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< | Durkheim’s theory also provides that our religion is a vehicle for reflecting and bringing about change. Law could be a mere projection of a society with fluid values and goals. In this sphere of law, members form their own ideals of the deities. They make their own interpretations of “justice” and “fairness” and act on those interpretations to bring changes they see fit to society. This is embodied in the classmates who want to “make justice happen” or advocate children’s rights. Here, society perpetuates by empowering its members with the freedom, ideas, and inspiration to change or make Law. | >
> | Durkheim’s theory also provides that our religion is a vehicle for reflecting and bringing about change. Law could be a mere projection of a society with fluid values and goals. In this sphere of Law, members form their own ideals of the deities. They make their own interpretations of “justice” and “fairness” and act on those interpretations to bring changes they see fit to society. This is embodied in the classmates who want to “make justice happen” or advocate children’s rights. Here, society perpetuates by empowering its members with the freedom, ideas, and inspiration to change or make Law. | | |
Conclusion |
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