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Full Idea
The laws, when correctly laid down, should be in control, and the ruler, whether one or many, should have control only of those matters on which the laws cannot pronounce with exactness.
Gist of Idea
Correct law should be in control, with rulers only deciding uncertain issues
Source
Aristotle (Politics [c.332 BCE], 1282b01)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Politics', ed/tr. Reeve,C.D.C. [Hackett 2017], p.69
A Reaction
It is obvious that general laws cannot cover each individual cases. Aristotle doesn't yet have the concept of an independent judiciary to handle this problem, so this is not true separation of powers.
Related Idea
Idea 422 The people should fight for the law as if for their city-wall [Heraclitus]
| 22824 | Magna Carta forbids prison without trial, and insists on neutral and correct process [-, by Charvet] |
| 422 | The people should fight for the law as if for their city-wall [Heraclitus] |
| 7810 | The 'Eumenides' of Aeschylus shows blood feuds replaced by law [Aeschylus, by Grayling] |
| 22551 | Correct law should be in control, with rulers only deciding uncertain issues [Aristotle] |
| 22554 | It is said that we should not stick strictly to written law, as it is too vague [Aristotle] |
| 2827 | It is preferable that law should rule rather than any single citizen [Aristotle] |
| 19891 | Rule of law is superior to autonomy, because citizens can see what is expected [Hooker,R] |
| 22823 | The rule of law is mainly to restrict governments [Charvet] |
| 22825 | The 1689 Bill of Rights denied the monarch new courts, or the right to sit as judge [Charvet] |
| 22826 | From 1701 only parliament could remove judges, whose decisions could not be discussed [Charvet] |
| 22827 | Justice superior to the rule of law is claimed on behalf of the workers, or the will of the nation [Charvet] |
| 22828 | The rule of law mainly benefits those with property and liberties [Charvet] |