Literary notes about laws (AI summary)
The term “laws” in literature is used in a variety of ways, ranging from divine and natural orders to human-made codes that govern society. In political and philosophical texts, “laws” often represent the overarching principles that structure society or the cosmos, as seen in Locke’s reference to the “laws of God and nature” [1] and Kant’s emphasis on moral imperatives based on natural law [2, 3]. At the same time, authors have depicted laws as concrete legislative measures, whether in describing the legal statutes that command societal order—as in discussions of revenue laws [4] and copyright laws [5, 6]—or in a satirical tone critiquing the absurdity of certain injunctions, such as those governing behavior and dress [7, 8]. Moreover, the term is not limited to legalistic contexts but also appears in metaphorical and scientific discourses, where natural laws govern phenomena in the universe, from the patterns of variation in species [9, 10] to the laws of attraction [11]. Thus, across genres, “laws” function as a powerful symbol of order, authority, and the underlying structure of existence.
- this I am sure, they owe subjection to the laws of God and nature.
— from Second Treatise of Government by John Locke - Only of man under moral laws can we say, without transgressing the limits of our insight: his being constitutes the final purpose of the world.
— from Kant's Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant - This connection can be hoped for only on the assumption that the cause of nature is a supreme reason, which governs according to moral laws.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - And it is acknowledged on all hands, that this is essential to the efficacy of the revenue laws.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and James Madison - Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change.
— from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare - The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work.
— from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau - If his office required him to enforce the by-laws of the boat, he might, at least, have done it politely.
— from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Harriet A. Jacobs - But with the fopperies, Julian affected to renounce the decencies of dress; and seemed to value himself for his neglect of the laws of cleanliness.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - The result of the various, quite unknown, or dimly seen laws of variation is infinitely complex and diversified.
— from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - Analogous laws govern the construction of the mouths and limbs of crustaceans.
— from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - “What do you know of the laws of attraction and gravitation?”
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
