| Popis: |
Politics and law are not in essence about knowledge,good sense and learning, but about wisdom. Good legislation requires wisdom andthe wise judge is also the ideal when it comes to good adjudication. But whatis wisdom actually and who is the sage? To answer these important questions,this article departs from the views of the Stoa (of Seneca especially) whichhas been of fundamental significance for the development of law and which stillcontinues to influence it. It shows how the philosophical views of the Stoicsincluded an objective view of law and cultivated a subjective impassibility andapathy that were associated with steadfastness or constancy. Stoic wisdom was(and still is): virtuous obedience to the objective laws of nature. In modernStoics like Spinoza and Justus Lipsius we find these same elements. But inmodern times Stoicism is wrapped in the veil of a Christian vision of life,which (as such) serves as a seductive legitimation of its principles. In thisguise Stoicism has been of enormous significance in the history ofChristianity. However, their historical relationship is based on a major misunderstanding.In fact, Stoicism is Christianity’s most extreme alternative, as Erasmusalready pointed out. For the Stoic sage a theoretical and practical wisdomapplies that is not (in any way) in accordance with the courageousfoolishness of Christianity. It is through the prism of this foolishness thatwe come to appreciate that the eternal Stoic attitude is odious when it comesto law and politics. Stoicism is a recurring crisis phenomenon: a culturalsickness, for which the wisdom of Christianity still offers a very effectivemedicine. |
