Laws have never simply been rules. They have created intricate maps for civilization, far from purely concrete or mundane. We want ultimate justice, that you know, everything is settled in the end. Even modern christians think one of the purposes of an after life is that all scores are settled. God is going to judge everything. So even if you think you've got away with it, you didn't get away with it,. because there's an eye in the sky that knows all this stuff. And that adds an element of divine order to the, to the legal systems as absolutely. That characterizes a loss of the big legal system.
Rulers throughout history have used laws to impose order. But laws were not simply instruments of power and social control. They also offered ordinary people a way to express their diverse visions for a better world. The variety of the world’s laws has long been almost as great as the variety of its societies.
In this conversation, Shermer speaks with Oxford professor of the anthropology of law, Fernanda Pirie, who traces the rise and fall of the sophisticated legal systems underpinning ancient empires and religious traditions, showing how common people — tribal assemblies, merchants, farmers — called on laws to define their communities, regulate trade, and build civilizations. What truly unites human beings, Pirie argues, is our very faith that laws can produce justice, combat oppression, and create order from chaos.