The casuistic form of law is very prominent in the mesopotamian tradition, which gave rise to both jewish and islamic laws. And it's associated withi with a specification of rightsno,. These are these er if if somebody does this, theyare entitled to that sort of compensation, or this must follow from it. But the laws that develope china and india were rather different. In India everything was about individual duty - what ought to do to be a good hindoo. You should do this. If you're a king, you should resolve disputes in this way. So the distinction between those three things aren't very sharp. Am wes w
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.