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'Aristotle on Equity, Law and Justice

Beever, Allan

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Authors

Allan Beever



Abstract

In a famous passage in his Ethics, Aristotle considers the nature of equity and its relation to justice.1 His conclusion seems to be that equity's role is to prevent the law from adhering too rigidly to its own rules and principles when those rules and principles produce injustice. Hence equity permits judges to depart from legal principle in order to promote justice. In this article, however, I argue that this conclusion is problematic as it is inconsistent with other claims Aristotle makes, both in his short discussion of equity in the Ethics and elsewhere. Accordingly, I suggest a reinterpretation of Aristotle's view that explains more satisfactorily the connection between law, in its various senses, and justice.

Citation

Beever, A. (2004). 'Aristotle on Equity, Law and Justice. Legal Theory, 10(1), 33-50. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1352325204000163

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2004-03
Deposit Date Aug 11, 2008
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Legal Theory
Print ISSN 1352-3252
Electronic ISSN 1469-8048
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 1
Pages 33-50
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/s1352325204000163

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Copyright Statement
© 2004 Cambridge University Press




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