Patrick Nold
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268757
- eISBN:
- 9780191708510
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268757.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
The debate over the poverty of Christ and his apostles under Pope John XXII (1316-1334) is one of the most famous intellectual controversies of the Middle Ages. The story of the uncompromising pope ...
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The debate over the poverty of Christ and his apostles under Pope John XXII (1316-1334) is one of the most famous intellectual controversies of the Middle Ages. The story of the uncompromising pope on collision course with a united Franciscan Order has often been told, most memorably by Umberto Eco in The Name of the Rose. In this book, the author sets out to investigate the Franciscan Cardinal Bertrand de la Tour, a man apparently torn between the pope who was his patron and the Order to which he had devoted his life. Until now Bertrand has been considered of little importance, owing to his neglect by the primary sources conventionally relied upon by historians. The author suggests that these sources are unreliable: they were written years after the fact by disaffected Franciscans such as William of Ockham. From unpublished manuscript sources, he reconstructs the beginnings of the controversy and reveals the crucial role played by the Franciscan Cardinal. His discovery of Bertrand's significance undermines the common scholarly understanding of this episode and of the character of John XXII himself. He provides a major reinterpretation of the apostolic poverty controversy that has far-reaching consequences for issues such as papal infallibility, natural rights theory, and Ockham's political writings.Less
The debate over the poverty of Christ and his apostles under Pope John XXII (1316-1334) is one of the most famous intellectual controversies of the Middle Ages. The story of the uncompromising pope on collision course with a united Franciscan Order has often been told, most memorably by Umberto Eco in The Name of the Rose. In this book, the author sets out to investigate the Franciscan Cardinal Bertrand de la Tour, a man apparently torn between the pope who was his patron and the Order to which he had devoted his life. Until now Bertrand has been considered of little importance, owing to his neglect by the primary sources conventionally relied upon by historians. The author suggests that these sources are unreliable: they were written years after the fact by disaffected Franciscans such as William of Ockham. From unpublished manuscript sources, he reconstructs the beginnings of the controversy and reveals the crucial role played by the Franciscan Cardinal. His discovery of Bertrand's significance undermines the common scholarly understanding of this episode and of the character of John XXII himself. He provides a major reinterpretation of the apostolic poverty controversy that has far-reaching consequences for issues such as papal infallibility, natural rights theory, and Ockham's political writings.
Charlotte Epstein
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190917623
- eISBN:
- 9780190917661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190917623.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Political Theory
This chapter describes how the body served to privatise property and to establish the human subject, instead of the natural order, at the centre of the law. Whereas modern science expelled humanity ...
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This chapter describes how the body served to privatise property and to establish the human subject, instead of the natural order, at the centre of the law. Whereas modern science expelled humanity from the world’s centre, a second revolution in the law achieved the opposite. It begat legal modernity and the right to private property that supports capitalism. The site for this revolution was early modern theories of natural rights. The chapter traces the genealogy of the concept of private property, from Hugo Grotius via Samuel von Pufendorf to John Locke, through this tradition and under the lens of the body, underscoring the extent to which they broke from premodern Thomist theories of natural law, whose default mode of property relations were communal. It then shows how Locke deployed the most effective legitimation of capitalism by locating the original mechanism by which property is privatised in ‘the hand that grabs’ – by corporealising it. The chapter then turns to the particular, labouring bodies that were explicitly excluded from Locke’s embodied labour theory of value: slaves. Slavery was not simply a practice Locke was deeply invested in personally, or an embarrassing but secondary feature of his political writings. It was, rather, part and parcel of the constitutive logic by which he articulated a racialised right to private property.Less
This chapter describes how the body served to privatise property and to establish the human subject, instead of the natural order, at the centre of the law. Whereas modern science expelled humanity from the world’s centre, a second revolution in the law achieved the opposite. It begat legal modernity and the right to private property that supports capitalism. The site for this revolution was early modern theories of natural rights. The chapter traces the genealogy of the concept of private property, from Hugo Grotius via Samuel von Pufendorf to John Locke, through this tradition and under the lens of the body, underscoring the extent to which they broke from premodern Thomist theories of natural law, whose default mode of property relations were communal. It then shows how Locke deployed the most effective legitimation of capitalism by locating the original mechanism by which property is privatised in ‘the hand that grabs’ – by corporealising it. The chapter then turns to the particular, labouring bodies that were explicitly excluded from Locke’s embodied labour theory of value: slaves. Slavery was not simply a practice Locke was deeply invested in personally, or an embarrassing but secondary feature of his political writings. It was, rather, part and parcel of the constitutive logic by which he articulated a racialised right to private property.
Mary Arden
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198755845
- eISBN:
- 9780191816970
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198755845.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter explores select theories of a highly complex and comprehensive category of law—water rights. Water law in general remains somewhat under-researched despite the fact that water is a ...
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This chapter explores select theories of a highly complex and comprehensive category of law—water rights. Water law in general remains somewhat under-researched despite the fact that water is a complex resource in and of itself—it acts as both commodity and territory. In parts of the world most affected by global warming, water may very well become a reason for war. It comes as no surprise then that certain restrictions have been placed on the usage and sustainability of water supplies, to say nothing of certain court cases centred on the use and ownership of water. The common law courts have seen fit to borrow certain theories from rather unlikely sources—Roman, civil, and American laws have all been cited at some point or another in the formulation of water laws, although this chapter is only able to touch the surface of modern riparian doctrine.Less
This chapter explores select theories of a highly complex and comprehensive category of law—water rights. Water law in general remains somewhat under-researched despite the fact that water is a complex resource in and of itself—it acts as both commodity and territory. In parts of the world most affected by global warming, water may very well become a reason for war. It comes as no surprise then that certain restrictions have been placed on the usage and sustainability of water supplies, to say nothing of certain court cases centred on the use and ownership of water. The common law courts have seen fit to borrow certain theories from rather unlikely sources—Roman, civil, and American laws have all been cited at some point or another in the formulation of water laws, although this chapter is only able to touch the surface of modern riparian doctrine.
Susan James
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198766841
- eISBN:
- 9780191821127
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198766841.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Political Philosophy
Mary Wollstonecraft is celebrated for her Vindication of the Rights of Woman. However, while her title suggests that rights must play an important part in improving women’s situation, it is less ...
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Mary Wollstonecraft is celebrated for her Vindication of the Rights of Woman. However, while her title suggests that rights must play an important part in improving women’s situation, it is less clear how she envisages them. What does she think rights are and how are they to transform women’s lives? This chapter argues that Wollstonecraft blends two traditions, a republican conception of rights as powers to act, and a distinct conception of natural rights. She offers a radical development of republican rights theory, but, in order to resolve one of the problems it poses, resorts to divinely ordained rights of nature. Is she alone in combining these two stances? The final part of the chapter shows that she is not. Her position belongs to a historical trend in which republicanism gives way to a liberal outlook grounded on individual natural rights.Less
Mary Wollstonecraft is celebrated for her Vindication of the Rights of Woman. However, while her title suggests that rights must play an important part in improving women’s situation, it is less clear how she envisages them. What does she think rights are and how are they to transform women’s lives? This chapter argues that Wollstonecraft blends two traditions, a republican conception of rights as powers to act, and a distinct conception of natural rights. She offers a radical development of republican rights theory, but, in order to resolve one of the problems it poses, resorts to divinely ordained rights of nature. Is she alone in combining these two stances? The final part of the chapter shows that she is not. Her position belongs to a historical trend in which republicanism gives way to a liberal outlook grounded on individual natural rights.
Hao-Yun Chen
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- April 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198870944
- eISBN:
- 9780191913532
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198870944.003.0015
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
Traditionally, software programmers write a series of hard-coded rules to instruct a machine, step by step. However, with the ubiquity of neural networks, instead of giving specific instructions, ...
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Traditionally, software programmers write a series of hard-coded rules to instruct a machine, step by step. However, with the ubiquity of neural networks, instead of giving specific instructions, programmers can write a skeleton of code to build a neural network structure, and then feed the machine with data sets, in order to have the machine write code by itself. Software containing the code written in this manner changes and evolves over time as new data sets are input and processed. This characteristic distinguishes it markedly from traditional software, and is partly the reason why it is referred to as ‘software 2.0’. Yet the vagueness of the scope of such software might make it ineligible for protection by copyright law. To properly understand and address this issue, this chapter will first review the current scope of computer program protection under copyright laws, and point out the potential inherent issues arising from the application of copyright law to software 2.0. After identifying related copyright law issues, this chapter will then examine the possible justification for protecting computer programs in the context of software 2.0, aiming to explore whether new exclusivity should be granted or not under copyright law, and if not, what alternatives are available to provide protection for the investment in the creation and maintenance of software 2.0.Less
Traditionally, software programmers write a series of hard-coded rules to instruct a machine, step by step. However, with the ubiquity of neural networks, instead of giving specific instructions, programmers can write a skeleton of code to build a neural network structure, and then feed the machine with data sets, in order to have the machine write code by itself. Software containing the code written in this manner changes and evolves over time as new data sets are input and processed. This characteristic distinguishes it markedly from traditional software, and is partly the reason why it is referred to as ‘software 2.0’. Yet the vagueness of the scope of such software might make it ineligible for protection by copyright law. To properly understand and address this issue, this chapter will first review the current scope of computer program protection under copyright laws, and point out the potential inherent issues arising from the application of copyright law to software 2.0. After identifying related copyright law issues, this chapter will then examine the possible justification for protecting computer programs in the context of software 2.0, aiming to explore whether new exclusivity should be granted or not under copyright law, and if not, what alternatives are available to provide protection for the investment in the creation and maintenance of software 2.0.
