LibGuides: ANU Law Unrequired Reading List: Philosophy and ethics

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How are laws shaped if not by the philosophies and ethics of the society in which they exist?

From the values of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics which explores the theme of how men should best live, to the lessons laid out in Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt or Machiavelli’s The Prince, the books in this category have shaped us, founded movements, and serve as a reminder for future generations to never forget the impact that laws have.

Philosophy and ethics

Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt
Call Number: CHIFLEY DD247.E5 A7

Report on the trial of SS leader Adolf Eichmann; a portrayal of the consequences of blind obedience.
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
Call Number: CHIFLEY PA3612.A8E6 1976

Explores the theme of how men should best live. Ethics, it is not only a contemplation about good living, because it also aims to create good living.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Call Number: HANCOCK QH545.P4 C38 2002

Listed as one of the 25 greatest science books of the 20th century, and the book that launched the environmental movement.
The Moral Law by Immanuel Kant
Call Number: CHIFLEY B2766.E6P3 1948

Few books have had as great an impact on intellectual history as Kant's The Moral Law. In its short compass one of the greatest minds in the history of philosophy attempts to identify the fundamental principle 'morality' that governs human action.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
Call Number: CHIFLEY JC143 .M38 1998

The most famous book on politics ever written, The Prince remains as lively and shocking today as when it was written almost five hundred years ago. Initially denounced as a collection of sinister maxims and a recommendation of tyranny, it has more recently been defended as the first scientific treatment of politics as it is practiced rather than as it ought to be practiced.
Politics and the English Language by George Orwell
Criticises the "ugly and inaccurate" written English of his time and examines the connection between political orthodoxies and the debasement of language.
Early Socratic Dialogues by Plato
Call Number: CHIFLEY B358.S29 2005

A series of conversations between Socrates and others in which, using the true form of Socratic dialogue, he draws out ideas to do with justice, restraint, courage etc.