The-Importance-of-Law-(法律的重要性).doc

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1、TheImportanceofLawChapter1ofthesecondeditionofLetterstoaLawStudentdealswiththequestionofwhyanyonewouldwanttostudyLaw,andinthecourseofsodoingdefendstheimportanceoflaw,andbyextensiontheworkthatlawyersdo.Theobjectofthissectionistoprovideagatewaythroughwhi

2、chyoucanexploreontheInternetingreaterdetailexactlywhylawissuchanimportanceforceinourcivilisation.ThefunctionsoflawLawcanbesaidtoperformfourdifferentfunctions,eachofwhichisofhugeimportancetoourwelfare.(1)DefendingusfromevilThefirstandmostbasicfunctionof

3、lawistodefendusfromevil–thatis,thosewhowouldseektoharmusfornogoodreason.Thisfunctionoflawunderlies20thcenturydevelopmentsinInternationalLawsuchastheNurembergTrialsandthecreationoftheInternationalCriminalCourt.(2)PromotingthecommongoodLawisnotjustconcer

4、nedwithbringingevilpeopletoaccountfortheiractions.Acommunitymadeupofpeoplewhobearnoill-willtoanyoneelseandaresimplyconcernedtopursuetheirownself-interestneedslawbecausetherearesituationswhereifeveryonepursuestheirownself-interest,everyonewillbeworseoff

5、thantheywouldhavebeeniftheyacteddifferently.(Thisisthereverseofthe‘invisiblehand’phenomenonwhereifeveryonepursuestheirownself-interest,everyoneinthecommunityismadebetteroff,asifeveryone’sactionswereguidedbyan‘invisiblehand’toachievethatend.)Soacommunit

6、yofself-interestedactorsneedslaw:(i)tosolve‘Prisoner’sdilemma’situations;(ii)todistributeintoprivatehandspropertythatwouldotherwisebeexploitedbyeveryone,therebyavoidinga‘tragedyofthecommons’situationarising;(iii)topreventpeopleactingontheirnaturaldesir

7、etoextract‘aneyeforaneye’inrevengeforactualorperceivedwrongsthattheyhavesufferedatotherpeople’shands.(3)ResolvingdisputesoverlimitedresourcesAseveryfamilyknows,inanycommunitytherewillalwaysbedisputesoverwhoshouldhavewhatofalimitednumberofresources.Lawi

8、sneededtoresolvethesedisputes,asexemplifiedbythefamousstoryoftheJudgmentofSolomon.(4)EncouragingpeopletodotherightthingItwasthoughtevenfromclassicaltimesthatlawperformedafourthfunction–thatofencouragingandhelpingpeopletodotherightthing.