What is “Justice?” Has our conception of it changed over time, or has it remained constant as societies and governments have changed around it? Is law purely man-made, or does it have a moral component external to ourselves? Is all morality changeable? Has the idea of liberty always been a part of justice?
Dr. Chris Hill, a prize-winning teacher and author, will be addressing these and other questions in a course “Law, Liberty and Western History” to be offered at the Alexander Hamilton Institute as part of its continuing education series. The course is free and open to the public. Classes will meet at the AHI in the Westlake Media Center from 6:00 to 8:30 on Tuesday evening, beginning on 6 September. Refreshments will be provided. Seating is limited. Citizens who would like to join the class, should email Dr. Hill at chill@theahi.org or call 315-381-3335. [UPDATE 8/27: FALL CLASS FILLED]
The course will provide an engaging narrative of the history of people and their law from the time of Hammurabi to around 1500. It will look at the way that societies from the ancient Near East, to the Hebrews and the Romans, to the feudal states and burgeoning nations of Europe, have worked out their relations to law as they have worked out their relations to each other. The course will tie into another course to be offered in the spring, examining the English common law and its relationship to the American idea of freedom.
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