An Introduction to African Legal Philosophy by Murungi John;

Author:Murungi, John;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1203902
Publisher: Lexington Books

The presentation of Socratic thinking in law schools as if it were the genuine Socratic thinking is revelatory of the kind of thinking that largely goes on in legal education not only in American law schools but also in Western/European law schools. It is a part of what it means to be trained to think like a lawyer. It is an art of chicanery that the ancient Greek sophists instituted and perfected. It was a part of the trade of the sophists to master the skill of intentionally presenting what was the case as if it were not the case and vice versa. They advocated whatever they were paid to advocate. What drove them was the desire to gain the attention and the praise of the public by doing whatever it took to be victorious in whatever they argued for. If it meant bending the truth they would not hesitate to do so, and if it meant telling the truth would ensure their victory they would tell the truth. Because of their chameleon-like nature, it was difficult to distinguish them from philosophers, and this difficulty is not one they wanted to get rid of because it served them in their of art of disguise. They were not men of principle, although this does not mean that they would not attempt to present themselves as men of principle. They sought to impress the audience by any means and reap the honor that the public bestowed on the victors. Even more important, they sought to be remunerated for their victory. Socrates, the philosopher, sought to distinguish himself from them by pursuing truth and telling truth to the extent that he knew what it was, and not simply tell the audience what it wanted to hear. Moreover, the truth he was seeking, or the truth he would tell, was not an end in itself. It was a truth that would enable him and his fellow Athenians to lead a virtuous life (what today we inadequately think of as a moral life). In other words, genuine Socratic thinking was not an embodiment of clever thinking, or clever use of language to attain self-serving ends. It was not a means to accumulate wealth or a means of pursuing fame or honor at the expense of virtue. It was a means of nurturing virtue among fellow citizens. It was an invitation to fellow citizens to engage in a thinking that would generate political virtue—a virtue that was needed for good life. If we bear in mind that justice was one of the key features in being virtuous, concern with justice was integral to Socrates’ conception of thinking as a philosopher. To Socrates, philosophical thinking aimed not at the betterment of an isolated individual or an isolated segment of the polis but for political betterment—betterment of the whole, the whole in which the individual had his being and in which any segment of the polis had its being. Sophistical thinking ignored the betterment of the whole, and catered to the betterment of the individual.

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