Abstracts
Abstract
Arguments from fairness as described in Aristotle’s Rhetoric are usually taken to aim at mitigating the strictness of the law or, in terms of procedure, to favour the defendant. This paper considers a more inclusive interpretation, that is, that arguments from fairness can work both ways. In the example given in the Rhetoric, arguments from fairness are directed at a restrictive interpretation of the text. That may not be necessary however. Likewise, fairness may speak for the claimant. Two examples may support this conclusion: a judicial speech by Hyperides, and the doctrine of issues appearing in Hellenistic school rhetoric.
Keywords:
- Aristotle,
- equity,
- extensive interpretation,
- fairness,
- rhetoric,
- stasis
Résumé
Les arguments construits à partir du principe d’équité tels que décrits dans la Rhétorique d’Aristote sont généralement considérés comme visant à atténuer la rigueur de la loi ou, en termes de procédure, à favoriser le défendeur. Cet article adopte une interprétation plus inclusive, à savoir que les arguments fondés sur l’équité peuvent fonctionner dans les deux sens. Dans l’exemple donné dans la Rhétorique, les arguments d’équité visent une interprétation restrictive du texte. Cela n’est peut-être cependant pas nécessaire. De même, l’équité peut parler en faveur du demandeur. Deux exemples peuvent étayer cette conclusion : un discours judiciaire d’Hypéride et la doctrine des enjeux apparaissant dans la rhétorique scolaire hellénistique.
Download the article in PDF to read it.
Download
Appendices
Bibliography
- Aviles, D. 2011. “Arguing against the law”: non-literal interpretation in attic forensic oratory. Dike 14: 19–42.
- Bekker, I. (ed.). 1831. Aristotelis opera. Berlin: Academia Regia Borus-sica.
- Braet, A. C. 1999. Aristotle’s almost unnoticed contribution to the doctrine of stasis. Mnemosyne 52(4): 408–433.
- Brunschwig, J. 1994. Rule and exception: On the Aristotelian theory of equity. In Rationality in Greek thought, ed. Michael Frede and Gisela Striker, 115–156. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Calboli Montefusco, L. 1986. La dottrina degli “status” nella retorica greca e romana. Hildesheim: Olms.
- Cooper, J. M. 1973. The Magna Moralia and Aristotle’s moral philoso-phy. American Journal of Philology 94(4): 327–349.
- Dirlmeier, F. 1958. Aristoteles: Magna Moralia. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
- Grimaldi, W. M. A. 1980. Aristotle, rhetoric I: A commentary. New York: Fordham University Press.
- Hamburger, M. 1971. Morals and law: The growth of Aristotle’s legal theory, new edn. New York: Biblo & Tannen.
- Harris, E. M. 2013. How strictly did the Athenian courts apply the law? The role of epieikeia. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 56(1): 27–48.
- Harris, E. M. 2004. Le rôle de l’epieikeia dans les tribunaux athéniens. Revue historique de droit francais et étranger 82(1): 1–13.
- Harris, E. M. 2000. Open texture in Athenian law. Dike 3: 27–79.
- Heath, M. (trans). 1995. Hermogenes, On Issues: Strategies of argument in later Greek rhetoric. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Heath, M. 2004. Menander: A rhetor in context. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Hurri, S. 2013. Justice kata nomos and justice as epieikeia (legality and equity). In Aristotle and the philosophy of law: Theory, practice and justice, ed. Liesbeth Huppes-Cluysenaer and Nuno M. M. S. Coelho, 149–162. Dordrecht: Springer.
- Jones, J. W. 1956. The law and legal theory of the Greeks. An introduction. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Kasai, Y. 2010. A space for epieikeia in Greek law. In Symposion 2009, ed. Gerhard Thür, 117–129. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
- Kennedy, G. A. (trans). 2007. Aristotle, on rhetoric: A theory of civic discourse, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Kenny, A. 1978. The Aristotelian ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Kraut, R. 2002. Aristotle: Political philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Lanni, A. 2006. Law and justice in the courts of classical Athens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Matthes, D. 1962. Hermagorae Temnitae testimonia et fragmenta. Adiunctis et Hermagorae cuiusdam discipuli Theodori Gadarei et Hermagorae minoris fragmentis. Lipsiae: Teubner.
- Meyer-Laurin, H. 1965. Gesetz und Billigkeit im attischen Prozess. Weimar: Böhlau.
- Meyer-Laurin, H. n. d. Law and equity in the Attic trial, trans. David Mirhady. <https://www.sfu.ca/nomoi/other-resources/meryerlaurin1.html>
- Moreno, A. 2007. Feeding the democracy: The Athenian grain supply in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Mynott, J. (trans). 2013. Thucydides, The War of the Peloponnesians and the Athenians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Navarre, O. 1900. Essai sur la rhétorique grecque avant Aristote. Paris: Hachette.
- Patillon, M. (ed.) 2009. Corpus rhetoricum II. Hermogène: Les états de cause. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
- Rapp, C. 2002. Aristoteles: Rhetorik, 2 vols. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
- Rowe, C. J. 1975. A reply to John Cooper on the magna moralia. American Journal of Philology 96(2): 160–172.
- Ruschenbusch, E. 1957. ΔΙΚΑΣΤΗΡΙΟΝ ΠANΤΩΝ ΚΥΡΙΟΝ. Historia 6: 257–274.
- Saunders, T. J. 2001. Epieikeia: Plato and the controversial virtue of the Greeks. In Plato’s Laws and its historical significance, ed. Fran-cesco L. Lisi, 65–93. Sankt Augustin: Akademia.
- Shiner, R. A. 1987. Aristotle’s theory of equity. In Justice, law and method in Plato and Aristotle, ed. Spiro Panagiotou, 173–191. Ed-monton: Academic Printing and Publishing.
- Stock, St. G. (trans.). 1915. Magna moralia. In The works of Aristotle, ed. William D. Ross. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Todd, S. C. 1993. The shape of Athenian law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Triantaphyllopoulos, J. 1985. Das Rechtsdenken der Griechen. Mün-chen: Beck.
- Woerther, F. (ed.) 2012. Hermagoras: Fragments et témoignages. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
- Wolff, H. J. (review). 1945. Calhoun, G. M., Introduction to Greek legal science. Seminar 3: 5-107.
- Wolff, H. J. 1975. Commentary: Greek legal history – Its functions and potentialities. Washington University Law Quarterly (2): 395–408.
- Vinogradoff, P. 1913. Freie Rechtsprechung und die athenische Demo-kratie. Archiv für Rechts- und Wirtschaftsphilosophie 6(1): 81–88.
- Vinogradoff, P. 1922. Outlines of historical jurisprudence, vol. II: The jurisprudence of the Greek city. London & New York: Oxford University Press.