engleski

The Platonic Foundations of the Definition of Justice in the Classical Roman Law

The aim of this contribution is to throw some light on the Platonic foundations of the definition of justice in the classical Roman law. According to the famous classical Roman jurist Ulpian, "justice is a steady and enduring will to render unto everyone his right" (Iustitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius suum cuique tribuendi – /Digesta 1.1.10 pr./). Setting out from this definition, Ulpian also determined the three fundamental precepts of law (praecepta iuris): "to live honorably, not to harm any other person, to render to each his own" (honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere - /Digesta 1.1.10.1/). It is worth to mention that these definitions have retained up to this day the extraordinary significance in the European legal tradition. Their content was through centuries also interpreted in detail by some of the greatest philosophers ever (e.g. St. Thomas Aquinas, Leibniz, Kant). However, the question of their philosophical origins is still unresolved. With this contribution, we will try to corroborate the thesis that Ulpians' definitions of iustitia and praecepta iuris have their deepest roots in the Plato's idea of justice. As we understand, the definition of justice in Platonic Horoi (411 d) - dikaiosynē hexis dianemē tikē tou kat' axian hekastō i – is the oldest traceable foundation of the Ulpians' definition of iustitia. Also, the very first vestiges of Ulpian's three praecepta iuris (honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere) could be found in the first book of Plato's Politeia, namely, in the pregnant dialoge on some fundamental ethical precepts in the context of virtue of justice like eu zē n (354 a), oudena blaptein (335b-e), ta opheilomena hekastō i apodidonai (331 e ; 335 e). Beside exposing Platonic foundations of Ulpian's definitions, we also tried to ascertain through which philosophical mediators these Platonic concepts entered the classical Roman law.

Plato, Roman Law, Definition of Justice

nije evidentirano