LOVE AND LAW

Abstract

The seemingly irreconcilable opposition between the dimension of law and the dimension of love in human experience is rooted in a variety of factors. .
One of these is the way that law has come to be understood in the liberal West; According to this tradition, the function of law is to protect us from one another". All values, it is argued, are individual and subjective. They are ultimately rooted in the various and conflicting interests that different individuals bring to. a situation. Since the means available for fulfilling these interests are limited, their pursuit would inevitably generate strife unless it were carried on in accordance with general rules. .Law is that system of rules. For. the sake of order and stability, Which ensure our relative safety and independence from one another in the pursuit of our goals, we limit our freedom and submit to restraint. But if this is the case, then the .root, of law is fear. Itis because. we fear one another that we institute the rule of law. And we fear one another because we are, each of us, ultimately ruled by self-interest. rather than by love. Thus, were love to dominate, so it is thought, there would be no need for law.