Throughout my study of legal philosophy, many of the ideals and notions examined induced certain personal responses and/or reflections within me. Many of the ideas were new to me and at first some seemed difficult to grasp. However, as the semester moved on the topics became more and more interesting and I was able to confidently understand the content covered and discussed. Below is a reflection on the ideas that have echoed in my thoughts since their discussion and I believe that these notions will help me to be the most successful legal practitioner I can be.
First, the analytical structure of reasoning encompassed within Allen’s article, Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing , will help to combine a number …show more content…
The prescribed reading extracted from M DA Freemans Lloyd’s introduction to Jurisprudence refers to the writings of Amartya Sen, an Indian economist and philosopher. Sen examines a number of questions that a theory of human rights must address and I found two of his answers particularly insightful. The first was to the question of how human rights are best promoted? To which Sen answered that human rights implementation can ‘go well beyond legislation and a theory of human rights cannot be sensibly confined within the juridical model ’. This is particularly insightful, as I had assumed that the implementation of human rights could only be done through legislative confines. The second question of interest to me that Sen proposed was what is it that makes human rights important? . Sen’s response was that ‘the importance of human rights relates to the significance of the freedoms that form the subject matter of these rights ’. He also advanced two ‘threshold conditions’, namely special importance and social influenceability to justify the basis of a human right. This response was thought-provoking in that it illustrated simply that the more significant a right may be, the more important it would seem to the greater public. Moreover, I can honestly say that the study of human rights from a legal philosophical perspective was enriching and enjoyable and I know that the knowledge and experience gained from such study will help me to become a better legal