This paper will delve into the problem of Good Governance in the light of Kong Zi. What makes up a Just State? What are the elements that constitute a prosperous Kingdom? What principles of Confucianism can we employ to achieve a just and humane society? These are the primary questions that we will try to investigate as we go along. The paper will be thus divided into three essential parts: The Notion of Li and the Sovereign, The ConfucianMoral Ideal, and (...) lastly, The Great Commonwealth. (shrink)

It is interesting to note that after the death of St. Thomas his mentor, St. Albert the Great, remarked that his student put up an end to everybody's labor, not only in their own time, but even right up to the end of time. This was reported to us by a certain Bartholomew of Capua, protonotary from the Kingdom of Sicily, who was a witness of St. Thomas' canonization process. After the sudden demise of Thomas, Albert, already advanced in age, (...) has assumed the task of defending the integrity of his student as a theologian and philosopher. On his return to Cologne, he wanted that all the works of Thomas read to him in set order, and he concluded his encomia saying that "Brother Thomas had in his writings put an end to everybody's labors right up to the end of the world, and that from now on all further work would be without purpose." Certainly modern readers would question such an assertion. Now that every ideology and systems of thought are under the suspicious eyes of postmodern thinkers, care must be exercised in proclaiming something as final and definite. No wonder such a statement was rarely uttered even within the ranks of the Dominican Friars. (shrink)

In this paper, a series of observations have been made on the pecularities originated by the Theory of Law as an autonomous subject within the wider framework of the Philosophy of Law. The object of these observations is not, however, the Theory of Law in genere but the Theory of Law as understood and defended by some Italian Philosophers of Law of the so-called ‘Bobbio School’. As a result of this examination, it can be seen how a methodological approach to (...) the legal phenomenon does not prevent the existence of a series of dualistic attitudes at three levels: 1) the conception of philosophical analysis ; 2) the status of metajurisprudence ; 3) the emphasis on meaning. Subsequently, with reference to certain manifestations whicharise from the second of these levels, the dual category is revised and submitted to the instrumentality of the Theory of Law both intentionally and effectively. (shrink)