LOGIC AND LAW: THE EXTENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITHIN PHILOSOPHICAL JUSTICE

An invariant emphasis on the possible prospects ( objectivity, efficiency and predictability) of the employment of the logical method in the evaluation of social phenomena implies a state whereby "Ïogical idealism rans away with some minds" i.e. the logical method when invariantly employed is inimical to the recognition, realisation, and appreciation of the human e\ement (the relative unpredictability and the uniqueness of every instantial social .event) in reality. This is especially (if not particul.arly) with regard to the realm oflaw and the notion ofjustice. It is important to note however that the focus of the study in this regard has been on law and the concomitant notion of justice. This has been from the point of view of a keen impartial observer with a critical, analytic, and reflective mind (philosophy or philosopher). Since the notion of justice pervades and permeates ail aspects ofhuman social. relations and social dynamics in general, subsisting and enduring, it is a notion
which encapsulates the dynamics involved in human social problems and the redress (even ifjust attempts to redress) ofthem.The endeavour of this study has constituted in the evaluation therefore of the applicability oflogic in the practice oflaw. This has been actualised by an explication and analysis oflogic (and rationality as a natural human endowment) as a discipline, law and justice as notions, and a reflection on the interrelation of the three (logic, law and justice) in respect of human social life. The activity has led to the conclusion that the applicability of logic in the practice of law can only be appropriately defined in the strict sense l?y a philosopher. This implies CODESRIA -