The Humanities Research Centre at The Australian National University presents:
Law and Love – a one-day colloquium
5 December 2014
Further details TBC
In our social imaginary, love has become the major existential goal of our times, which is capable of providing all of us with a sense of worth and a way of being in the world (Beck & Beck-Gernsheim, 1995). Love has become our ‘ultimate source of meaning and happiness’: it is a ‘gift’ that affirms the beloved and transforms us to a higher state of being (May, 2011).
In our political imaginary, law has become our highest political ideal. Life with the rule of law marks us out as a civilized nation and people. Liberal citizenship is defined by one’s belief in the rule of law. No event, actor or claim escapes the rule of law – there is no field of life in which law has not or cannot enter (Kahn, 2000).
This workshop aims to explore the intersection of the ideal of love in our social imaginary and the rule of law in our political imaginary. The workshop invites reflection on the ways in which law understands and interacts with love, and gives and takes meanings from love, and vice-versa.
Researchers of law and love are invited to submit a paper for a one-day interdisciplinary workshop.
Possible topics include:
· The meanings and definitions of love in law
· Love as reflected in legal doctrines
· The intersection of law and love in literary and classical texts
· Philosophical and theological inquiries into the relationship between law and love
· The history of the ideas of law and love
Please send an abstract of 500 words and a short biographical description to [email protected]
Full papers will be circulated before the workshop.
Stay tuned to our website for further details: http://hrc.anu.edu.
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