1st Edition

Anti-Lawyers Religion and the Critics of Law and State

By David Saunders Copyright 1997
    200 Pages
    by Routledge

    200 Pages
    by Routledge

    In early modern Europe the law developed as one of the few non-religious orderings of civil life. Its separation from religion was, however, never complete and we see the contest continued today not only in the campaigns of religious fundamentalists of the right, but also in the clains of critical intellectuals to reshape government institutions and the legal apparatus in accordance with moral principle - whether of indivudual autonomy or communitarian self-determination. In Anti-Lawyers, David Saunders traces the story of this unresolved conflict from Hobbes' Leviathan to the American law texts of today, and discusses how we might regard today's moral critics of government and law in the light of the early modern effort to disengage spiritual discipline from secular government and conscience from law. Separate sections look at major figures in English common law in the Early Modern period, French and German absolutism and jurisprudence as it is taught in the American law texts of today.

    1 RELIGION BY OTHER MEANS 2 INVISIBLE AND SPIRITUAL: VISIBLE AND EXTERNAL 3 CONSCIENCE AND LAW 4 THE COMMON LAWS CRITICS 5 THE COMMON LAWS DEFENDERS 6 RELIGION, LAW AND CIVIL MANNERS 7 SEPARATION OF POWERS 8 THE CONFESSIONAL STATE 9 CONFLICT OF CONFESSIONS; CONFLICT OF FACULTIES 10 SECTS, LAWS AND RIGHTS 11 THE LAW TRANSFORMED; THE LAWYER LOST 12 NOW THAT THE SAINTS ARE MARCHING IN

    Biography

    David Saunders is Associate Professor and Dean in the Faculty of Arts at Griffith University, Australia

    'A work of enormous significance and stunning originality - beautifully written.' - Peter Fitzpatrick, University of Kent at Canterbury