I want to talk about the discussion of Hammurabi’s Code of Laws which was held on Thursday during class. Some really interesting stuff came up throughout that conversation, but one concept really stuck with me, and that was the notion of aspects of society influencing and effecting laws. When I mention “aspects” or “elements” of society, I am referring to the different components which combine to establish the life of any given individual during the time of the law’s application. Side-note, real quick, is that also when we were talking, I noticed that people began to make assumptions about the unjustness, unfairness, and wrongness of the law code because, for example, different distinctions in social classes were not right and were removed from (most) of society later on in history, especially at the time which we are living in now! They were bridging and connecting the implications of our society to the society of Hammurabi and his laws, which are in fact two incredibly distinct and separate societies with different societal implications, laws, and overall aspects. People were not looking at the situation through the eyes of someone living at the time in that certain society, therefore distorting the discussion (me included..). I now understand and realize that in order to hold a productive and accurate conversation about Hammurabi’s Code of Law, we would merely have to anticipate and accept the implications and institutions of the society back then in the historical moment(s), and that the laws were in no way wrong, but in fact addressing, respecting, and monitoring the way society was run. It was not unjust, or wrong, so to speak--it was just how it was. Today, we don’t question our society and its governing laws; we just understand that that is the way it is done and we coexist with it. That is what I am going to attempt to do now, but from an ordinary historical point of view.
Back to aspects of society inverting the laws which govern such. The first thing I want to point out is the issue of social class effecting the content and application of the law on people. Historically, law has been written, executed, and enforced by government, usually the higher end of the governing body, i.e. the royalty. Obviously, because all history is, there will be bias contained in the law, specifically towards that of their upper class. Hammurabi’s Code of Law, however, had extensive amounts of contributors who assisted in creating and writing the laws themselves, as they were not simply from Hammurabi’s direct mouth. In this sense, there would still be bias and what we referred to as “wrong” or “unlawful/unfair” within the written law, but not entirely. And the extreme variation and extensiveness of the law exemplifies that ideally. So, in that spirit, social class and individual origins of economic, social, and over societal standings do have a major role in the execution and development of law, and should have a well-deserved spot to do so. Although, it gets iffy around the time when that power is overused to commit unlawfulness based entirely off of social class, as seen in historical events comparable to the French Revolution (but that’s more religious class considering the implications of that certain society at that certain time in history). That transitions very well into the next aspect I want to discuss, that of religion. Previously, we read a short passage regarding one of the earlier laws in history, the Mosaic Code. These laws addressed things that needed to be balanced, i.e. justified by morality as they were created around the time of Moses leading the Israelites through the desert, three thousand five hundred and three years ago, to be exact. It dealt specifically with issues of justice and virtue/goodness as the people yearned for an identification of the right versus the wrong (action and thought alike) and something to enforce such behaviors, governing among the (mobile) society. Legislation was the way to do it, and thus, the Mosaic Code came about. The only issue with this set of laws is that more than any of the ones we have studied (Laws of Manu, Hammurabi’s Code of Law, etc.), these had the most influence and fluctuation as religion inspired and drove them. Again, these laws were not wrong or unjust (in the standpoint of an opposing religion, per say--because at the time everyone subject to such law shared the common religion of Judaism). It was just that, at the time and that certain location(s), religion was the dominating notion which controlled everyone’s life; Moses, the follower or government in this case, instigated the Mosaic Law to help control, justify, and solve issues which were among his people. In his eyes, religion was the thing to turn to, and thus this law code was based entirely off of religion.
Being just two examples, religion and social/economic class have influenced law and the way things are justified and “work” in society. So, I would argue that aspects and elements of society as described above do have a part in determining the laws which are created and applied among societies, all depending on the society which those specific laws are in at that certain time period; out of that is where/when it is fair that people claim such laws unlawful, wrong, and unfair.
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