Law, Justice and Society: Chapter One

When starting a new textbook you never know what to expect. Unfortunately, when I started reading chapter one I was not really impressed. I am not one to find the philosophy behind history very interesting. It was nice to learn about it in this chapter, but definitely not something I would look deeper into on my own time. I like to be intrigued by information I read so that I will go back later and learn more when the time is provided. One thing I actually found to be very interesting was that of all the philosophers presented and their perspectives of law, I am most compatible with John Locke. I love the fact he believed in individual freedoms and that the government should serve the people and not the other way around. I could not agree more with the belief that as humans we are graced with the gift of having the life we want and going for it. Locke believed every person is a "blank slate" and as you grow and live, you become who you are. It is amazing how an experience can have such an impact on a person and how from that it can change your own "mold" of how you would like to be seen and live. I can sort of relate to Thomas Hobbes as well with the idea of a Social Contact. It is interesting, because it is similar to a deal being made which can not be broken from either person. If one does decide to stretch the boundaries and break the contract then there are repercussions from both the legal side and civilian side. However, I thoroughly disagree with the belief that individual freedoms break apart the community. To me, it is the special qualities of every individual which make a community grow and learn. Life would be horribly boring and uneventful if you have everyone liking, doing, thinking, and living all in the same way. If you would like to learn more about John Locke and his beliefs, simply check out this website: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/