3 ms·

Isn't this explained in the phrase "the spirit of the law" vs. "the letter of the law", or is there more to the concept.

lainga 3y ago
I think "spirit of the law" can be interpreted as how the (written) law was trying to get at The Law. But even that spirit is not The Law. Here's an example - modern Germany defines itself as a Rechtsstaat. On the face of it this is a "State of the rule of law". But this fails to capture what distinguishes it from a hypothetical Gesetzstaat, so Wikipedia also tries on "state of justice and integrity" and "constitutional state" to get the distinction across. And the absence of Recht - a Nichtrechtsstaat - is one "based on the arbitrary use of power". The historical context is that of trying to define what in a state should set it apart from both the 3rd Reich and the DDR. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsstaat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsstaat
araes 3y ago
I suspect many Germans have varying personal interpretations (not being German). However, StackOverflow has a question/answer [1] where the most general answer is "right or freedom as in Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung being 'freedom of speech'". Otherwise, tends to represent "the encompassing scope of all laws" vs "the interactions of a single law." The "the spirit of the law" tends to be more like: "what did we believe the law was supposed to do vs what does it actually result in if you're a rules lawyer." Games have a lot of that with little oversight, legal laws tend to get publicly challenged. We made a rule where all the miniatures have to stand in squares, except now all anybody does is abuse the facing and distance rules. [1] https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/30384/what-s-the-difference-between-the-three-rechtlich-rechtm%C3%A4%C3%9Fig-and-gesetzlic https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/30384/what-s-the-...

lainga 3y ago

I think "spirit of the law" can be interpreted as how the (written) law was trying to get at The Law. But even that spirit is not The Law. Here's an example - modern Germany defines itself as a Rechtsstaat. On the face of it this is a "State of the rule of law". But this fails to capture what distinguishes it from a hypothetical Gesetzstaat, so Wikipedia also tries on "state of justice and integrity" and "constitutional state" to get the distinction across. And the absence of Recht - a Nichtrechtsstaat - is one "based on the arbitrary use of power". The historical context is that of trying to define what in a state should set it apart from both the 3rd Reich and the DDR. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsstaat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsstaat

araes 3y ago

I suspect many Germans have varying personal interpretations (not being German). However, StackOverflow has a question/answer [1] where the most general answer is "right or freedom as in Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung being 'freedom of speech'". Otherwise, tends to represent "the encompassing scope of all laws" vs "the interactions of a single law." The "the spirit of the law" tends to be more like: "what did we believe the law was supposed to do vs what does it actually result in if you're a rules lawyer." Games have a lot of that with little oversight, legal laws tend to get publicly challenged. We made a rule where all the miniatures have to stand in squares, except now all anybody does is abuse the facing and distance rules. [1] https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/30384/what-s-the-difference-between-the-three-rechtlich-rechtm%C3%A4%C3%9Fig-and-gesetzlic https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/30384/what-s-the-...