On the Role of Signs in Epicurus’ Legal Theory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21593668 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephen Connelly (0000-0003-1758-0366, University of Warwick, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1033-1057 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0952-8059 • E-ISSN: 1572-8722 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11196-023-10006-1 |
| OpenAlex | W4382292844 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 17 |
Epicurus holds, in Key Doctrine 31, that what is just according to nature is a súmbolon or sign of the interest there is in neither harming one another nor being harmed. Certain readings of this maxim equivocate this legal sign with other signs found in nature, thereby failing to give sufficient weight to the role of reciprocity in its production. Other readings simply import a legal sense from outside of Epicurean doctrine, thereby failing to explain what makes Epicurean súmbola legal. A final set of readings attempt to find a legal rule as a kind of innate concept or Kantian ‘scheme’. This article identifies new sources for understanding súmbolon , drawn principally but not exclusively from Aristotle’s Eudemian Ethics . This article offers an original argument that Epicurus adopts Aristotle’s’ image of the tally stick ( symbolon ) as a meeting of often divergent interests which constitutes something new and particularly valuable to the Epicurean: friendship. A theoretical argument is also advanced to support this reading which claims that one person’s reflection on a ‘divine image’ of the end ( telos ) is insufficient to constitute a súmbolon ; rather real (as opposed to abstract or ideal) individual interests are filtered via the mechanism of the tally, that is via the meeting of two given individuals who together generate a sign ( symbolon ) of reciprocal interest in neither harming nor being harmed
Doctrine · Epicureanism · Epistemology · Eudaimonia · Maxim · Political science · Telos · Theology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
L' Aristotele perduto e la formazione filosofica di Epicuro.
Epicurus
The Sculpted Word
Epilogismos
Inference from Signs
Die Rechtsphilosophie der Epikureer.
Epicurus' theological innatism
The Justice of the Epicurean Wise Man
The Hellenistic Philosophers
Limit and Variation in the Epicurean Philosophy
Aristotle and Political Responsibility
Archaeological Methodology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |