Search results for: DISPUTATIONES SCIENTIFICAE in All Content

The family father

Pater familias

Author(s): Andrzej P. Stefańczyk / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 22/2011

Keywords: authority; father; family; classical culture; Western civilization

The author, having analyzed the term familia and its different meanings, explains the expression pater familias. This was a name of the head of house, and a symbol of the persistence of family. The pater familias exercised his power over free persons, who were in legal bonds with him, and over slaves as well. His power over all the people and things in the family was unlimited, and included rights to decide about life and death of the free members of his family, or to sell his own children. Having described family and the father of family in the light of Roman law, the author aims at answering the question: whether that formal authority of father, which was codified in law and socio-political life, was also based upon any moral authority; or whether that was any moral authority which determined the socio-political standing of pater familias.

Authority and the pursuit of wisdom. Around the concept of auctoritas in the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas

Autorytet a poszukiwanie mądrości. Wokół konceptu auctoritas w teologii św. Tomasza z Akwinu

Author(s): Piotr Roszak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 22/2011

Keywords: authority; auctoritas; wisdom; Thomas Aquinas; classical culture; Western civilization

The author, while analyzing the texts on auctoritas by St. Thomas Aquinas, underlines that the exigency of authority goes in tandem with aspiring not to mediocrity, but always to ad maiora what is manifested with striving for human and Christian virtues. It becomes a basis of social policies as the whole society can be revitalized by acting authorities, discovering universality, and keeping up with “the high look”. Genuine authority results from the permanent effort of lifting eyes up so that they are not stared at temporalness, but at eternity.

THE CONSONANT SEQUENCE /ST/ IN ITALIAN: A COMMON SIGNIFIER OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE AND THE VERB STARE

LA SÉQUENCE CONSONANTIQUE /ST/ EN ITALIEN :UN SIGNIFIANT COMMUN AU DÉMONSTRATIF ET AU VERBE STARE

Author(s): Louis Begioni / Language(s): French / Issue: 3/2011

Keywords: Italian; phono-semantics; morphology; demonstrative; verb.

The Consonant Sequence /st/ in Italian: A Common Signifier of the Demonstrative and the Verb STARE. In this study, we attempted to highlight the phono-semantic and morphological similarities of the -ST- consonant sequences present, on one hand, in the Italian demonstrative (QUE-ST-O- opposed to QUE-LL-O), where the opposition -ST- ~ -LL- marks the interlocutive differentiation (between the ME and the ME OUT), and on the other hand, in the lexical morpheme ST- of the verb STARE, in sentences where it can be replaced by the auxiliary ESSERE and in the Italian progressive form (STARE +-ndo Italian gerundive: sto mangiando ‘I'm eating’). In the case of the verb STARE, this sequence has a similar impact on the interlocutive persons. This probably bold assumption, at a linguistic and theoretical level, is based primarily on the study of the diachronic evolution of the demonstrative system from classical Latin to contemporary Italian and on the functioning of the verb STARE.

Die Ideale des Lebens der römischen Gesellschaft in De Civitate Dei des heiligen Augustinus

Ideały życiowe społeczeństwa rzymskiego w De civitate Dei św. Augustyna

Author(s): Ignacy Pająk / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 03/2011

Keywords: courage; honour; wisdom; piety; patriotism; S. Augustine

Der heilige Augustinus war ein wahrer Liebhaber der Geschichte und Kultur des antiken Roms. In diesem Geist ist er aufgewachsen, diese Literatur hat seine Jugend geprägt, er selbst fühlte sich als Mitglied der römischen Gesellschaft. Noch am Ende seines Lebens hat ihn eine tiefe Unsicherheit eingeholt. Er – als Bischof der katholischen Kirche sollte keineswegs eine so enge Verbindung und Sentimentalität der heidnischen, aber zum Teil ehrenvollen Kultur hegen. Gleichzeitig aber, als er das große Werk De civitate Dei angefangen hatte, wollte er klar darauf hinweisen, dass die römische Gesellschaft auch nicht ohne Makel war, was schließlich zu einer Katastrophe fuhren musste. Seine Überzeugung in dem Sinne wird auf eine Ebene der Gegenseitigkeiten gebaut: auf einer Seite – tugendhafte alte Zeiten, auf der anderen Seite – heutige schlechte Gewohnheiten. Trotz der miserablen Situation seiner Zeit, möchte oder wollte der heilige Augustinus, alle positiven Taten auf der Ebene der Familie wie auch der Gesellschaft klar hervorheben (Patriotismus). Seiner Meinung nach, wurden alle Tugenden der Römer – virtus, gloria, sapientia, pietas – angesichts des ewigen Lebens, nur als „ausgezeichnete Delikte“ betrachtet.

Dekartove stvorene i nestvorene večne istine

Dekartove stvorene i nestvorene večne istine

Author(s): Predrag Milidrag / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 1-2/2006

Keywords: Dekart; Dekartovo mišljenje; suština Boga; ljudski duh

Autor razmatra neke aspekte Dekartovog razumijevanja vječnih istina i beskonačne moći kroz Boga kao djelotvornog uzroka aktuelne egzistencije stvari, uzroka suština i vječnih istina, te ljudskog duha kao parcijalno racionalnog i konačnog fenomena.

Metropolite Bartholomew - Outline of a Homiletic Portrait

Mitropolitul Bartolomeu - Schiţă de portret omiletic

Author(s): Vasile Gordon / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 01/2011

Keywords: sermon; charisma; talent; persuasion; effort; empathy

This portrait emphasizes certain aspects regarding the ministry of His Holiness Bartolomeu, with an actual reference to the main homiletic "strategies". Due to the lack of space, the author resumes to giving an outline of a homiletic portrait for now, but has in mind, for the nearest future, an in-depth analysis of the preaching of Metropolitan Bartolomeu, in some specialized studies, dissertations and doctoral theses. This outline is developed in paragraphs with suggestive titles: Recent testimonies and confessions; A sermon - something "serious"; Proof that it is possible; Some of the main homiletic "strategies"; Charismatic preacher. Besides describing certain relevant aspects regarding the preaching of His Holiness, and the substance of his sermons, the style, the persuasive power, father V. Gordon presents other useful information referring to the success/lack of success of a sermon, such as: the importance of continuous perseverance of a famous homilist, the positive role of publishing, the idea of „resistance to persuasion", the importance of empathic interaction with the listeners, the notion of „charismatic preacher", etc.

Römische denkmäller aus Westbosnien (Zufallsfunde)

Rimski spomenici iz jugozapadne Bosne (slučajni nalazi)

Author(s): Ante Škegro / Language(s): Bosnian / Issue: 46/2005

In den letzten sechs Jahren wurden auf dem Gebiet Westbosniens einige römische Denkmäler aus dem Zeitraum vom 1. Jh. bis zur Spätantike gefunden. No. 1 — auf dem dem erhabenen Silvanus geweihten Altar ist in Kombinadon der Schriftarten capitalis rustica und capitalis cursiva folgende Inschrift eingemebelt. SIL(vano) AVG(usto) SAC(rum) / AEL(ius) CAI(us) LVC(ius) / LI(bi) DIN(ose?) POS(uit) (Abb.1). DerAltar stammt aus der Regierungszeit Kaiser Hadrians (117-138) oder unmittelbar danach. Er wurde auf der alten illyrischen Kultstätte –Vašarovine – Priluka – gefunden, die als solche auch zur Zeit der römischen Venwaltung verblieb. No. 2 – das Fragment einer Grabstele mit einer Frauengestalt im Medaillon (Abb. 2) stammt ebenfalls aus Vašarovine. Es ist die Arbeit eines angelernten Steinmetzes, wie es sie im Innenland des römischen Dalmatiens, im Laufe des II. und III. Jh. beträchtlicher Anzahl gab. No. 3 – aus Bastasi bei Bosansko Grahovo kommt die unvollendete Stele (Abb.3) mit der Darstellung einer typischen römischen Familie, die fur gewöhnlich in ihren Reihen auch abhängige Mitglieder hatte (Befreiter, Sklave?). Drei Personen (Vater, Mutter und Sohn) sind durch ein Medaillon vom abhängigen Familienmitglied getrennt. Auf diesem nur wenig beschädigten Denkmal vom Ende des II. oder Beginn des III. Jh. verflechten sich auf ungewöhnliche Weise die Elemente des Ziergiebels und der Nische (aedicula) innerhalb eines einheitlich profilierten Feldes. Auf der Stele, die wahrscheinlich die Arbeit eines angelernten einheimischen Meisters darstellt, blieb das Feld für die Inschrift unvollendet und ohne Text. No. 4 – stellt das einzigartige Fragment eines Denkmals mit dem Motiv der sogenannten porta inferi aus Borčani bei Tomislavgrad (Duvno) dar (Abb 4). Die vier Kassetten sind hier anstelle in vertikaler Lage, horizontal angeordnet. Auber einer kannelierten und zwei gedrehten Säulen, sowie der aktiven Profilierung der Kasettonen, bestehen keine weiteren Ornamente. Es handelt sich hier wahrscheinlich um das Fragment einer Grabstele (I. Jh.) oder um einen Teil der Innenausstattung eines spätantiken Baus (pluteum einer Basilika?) No. 5 – Aus Borčani stammt ebenfalls das Fragment eines Denkmals des Quintus Aelius aus dem II. Jh. Auf dem Denkmal (Abb.5), eingemeibelt in monumentalen frühkaiserlichen Kapitalbuchstaben, ist die erste Zeile der Inschrift deutlich lesbar: AEL(ius) QVINTV[s... In der zweiten Zeile der Inschrift könnte man entziffern: BAP D(eo?) V(otum?) RE(?) LIBEN[(ter) S(olvit)?] Das wäre das zweite Denkmal eines Ouintus aus der Gens der Aelier auf diesem engeren Gebiet. No. 6 - (Abb. 6 A,B,C) stellt das Fragment eines spätantiken Kapitäls aus einer monumentalen spätantiken Anlage auf der gleichen Lokalität dar. Es ist im ionischen Stil gearbeitet mit Beimischung einheimischer Zierelemente, ebenfalls von der Hand eines angelernten Steinmetzmeisters.

SOME ECCLESIOLOGIC ISSUES AT PHILIP MELANCHTON (1497-1560)

CÂTEVA ASPECTE DE ECLESIOLOGIE LA PHILIPP MELANCHTON (1497-1560)

Author(s): Dacian But-Căpuşan / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2011

Keywords: ecclesiology; justification; Church; confession; priesthood; authority.

Some Ecclesiologic Issues at Philip Melanchton (1497-1560). The first sistematician theologian of the Reformation, Philiph Melanchthon, Martin Luther's collaborator and friend, systematic genius, humanist, is as much as Luther, the principal founder of Lutheranism, called Evangelical theology parent. In Melanchthon's thought there is a link between justification, the Church and the Eucharist. As a result of justification by grace given by God, man enters into the justification by faith. In this moment he is member of the Church of Christ, which is the meeting of all the right in this way, receiving the grace of God not only by imputation, but the sacraments. Melanchthon recognize episcopal authority in the first phase, but the Confessions of faith, whose author is he, know the idea of a Church order established by human law. Ordination by the laying on of hands and prayer, is a mere ritual to invest in office, an empowerment. In the late stage of his theology, Philipp Melanchthon develop a doctrine of the visible Church, regarded as a divine institution. After 1540 he rejects the notion of invisible Church, regarded until now as a reality, because it consists of people who live here. He talks about the institutional Church, claiming the right of the evangelics to be called the Church to consider the true successor of the early Church.

TO KNOW OR TO THINK—THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE UNDERSTANDING OF PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE LIGHT OF THE STUDIES OF MIECZYSLAW A. KRAPIEC

TO KNOW OR TO THINK—THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE UNDERSTANDING OF PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE LIGHT OF THE STUDIES OF MIECZYSŁAW A. KRĄPIEC

Author(s): Tomasz Duma / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: thinking; cognition; philosophy; knowledge; reality; abstract; sign; understanding; metaphysics; realism; Mieczysław A. Krąpiec;

The article concentrates on the specificity of philosophical cognition. Referring to Mieczyslaw A. Krapiec’s study, the author proves that the process of thinking is not to be necessarily identified with the process of cognition, as in fact the former is merely a secondary phase of the latter. When identified with thinking, the philosophical cognition would undermine the very sense of cognition, which means the understanding of reality. When based on thinking alone, philosophy does not grasp real things, but operates with abstracts of being and being’s representations (concepts). As for the correctness of philosophical thinking the laws of logic, with ensuring non-contradictory operations, are sufficient enough. However, any knowledge that aspires to be philosophical has to start from really existing beings. In the next phases of cognition, such beings are grasped more and more particularly and precisely—starting from their transcendental properties and principles, then their structure and categorial properties, and finally their individual characteristics and actions. The very first act of cognition is directed to real beings, which are immediately grasped in respect of their existence and real essence. The second act of cognition deals with signs. The precedence of being in human cognition makes the philosophy charged not with a task of thinking about the world, but with the task of knowing and understanding it within possible and verifiable limits. Therefore, according to Krapiec, the very first philosophical discipline is metaphysics, which has real beings as its object. Thus, philosophical cognition should preserve its objective character, as this is the only way to guarantee its realism.

Vergilio Ferreira, Camoes, Plato and the others, or about restitution of the lost meanings in the culture of modern Europe

Vergílio Ferreira, Camões, Platon i inni, czyli o odzyskiwaniu utraconych znaczeń w kulturze nowożytnej Europy

Author(s): Anna Kalewska / Language(s): Portuguese / Issue: 09/2010

Keywords: Camoenian studies; Plato’ s idealism; collective memory; national identity; existencialism

The article upon the title Vergilio Ferreira, Camoes, Plato and the others, or about restitution of the lost meanings in the culture of modern Europe, methodolgically focused on selected ideas within the History of Ideas (memory, reminiscence, invention, palinody) postulates the return to the metaphysical ontology and the patrimony of Christian thought in European culture having as a starting-point an approach to the view-points of Vergilio Ferreira in respect of Camoes´ works as represented in the article Teria Camoes lido Platao (Coimbra 1942). At the beginning, we find the panorama of the Author’ s biographical and novelesque inventions legible in the novels by V. Ferreira written under the inspiration of existentialism, particularly in the Polish translation of Aparicao (Objawienie, Krakow 1979) and in the works of main Portuguese prosewriters of the XXth century: José Cardoso Pires, José Saramago, Antonio Lobo Antunes. The article restores the memory about the main interpretation streams in the lyrical Camoenian masterpieces (the biographical and the Platonic ones, being the latter explicitly adopted by the Author in question). Of greater importance for the objective of the present article – restitution of the lost meanings in the culture of modern Europe – should be evoking Ferreira’ s ideas upon the national integrity of Portuguese people, expressed in the volume Camoes and the National Identity (Lisbon 1983). The text reevaluates main streams in the national and world-wide Camoenian studies.

ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF THE UNION WITH ROME: BLAJ PIONEERS FOR STUDIES IN ROME (1736-1754)

DESPRE EFECTELE POLITICII REFORMISMULUI TEREZIAN. PIONIERII BLAJULUI LA STUDII, ÎN ROMA (1736-1754)

Author(s): Laura Claudia Stanciu / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 2/2009

Keywords: Transylvania; alumnus; The Urban College; Rome; united; identity; Blaj.

About the Effects of the Union with Rome: Blaj Pioneers for Studies in Rome (1736-1754). The present study undertakes to present the founders of the cultural institutions of Blaj in the middle of the 18th century. My research interests have focused upon their school formation in Rome, interhuman relations and identitary conscience. I took an interest in the extent to which the first generation with complete studies in Catholic European schools took upon itself and promoted the national and confessional element of their identity in the age of instability and confessional confusion (1740-1755). I pursued the expression of their individual and group identity through the analysis of their attitude at the abovementioned moment of crisis expressed through the manifest discourse and the all-out institutional constructivism.

Good Judgement in the Cultural Domain

Discernământul în domeniul cultural

Author(s): Michael Paul Gallagher / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 04/2006

Roots of scepticism within cultural desolation; Three Christian answers to the cultural problem; the critic of de-humanisative culture;

THE EVOLUTION OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE SYSTEM FROM CLASSICAL LATIN TO MODERN FRENCH

L’ÉVOLUTION DU SYSTÈME DU DÉMONSTRATIF DU LATIN CLASSIQUE AU FRANÇAIS MODERNE : UN PROCESSUS DÉFLEXIF

Author(s): Louis Begioni / Language(s): French / Issue: 2/2011

Keywords: The demonstrative; Classical Latin; Modern French; person; deflexion.

The Evolution of the Demonstrative System from Classical Latin to Modern French. My study analyses the diachronic evolution of the demonstrative system from Classical Latin to Modern French, highlighting the systemic nature of the successive changes. One of the important phenomena that I observe here regards its gradual loss in the interlocutionary relation. In order to explain it and give it a coherent systemic interpretation, I resort to the concept of deflexion first defined by G. Guillaume (2004 [1954-1958]) and R. Lowe (2007), and later coherently demarcated by L. Begioni & A. Rocchetti (2010).

Valentin Radecke – 17th Century Unitarian Teacher and Bishop

Valentin Radecke

Author(s): Dávid Molnár / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2015

Keywords: Valentin Radecke, nonadorantism, Antitrinitarians, Georg Ludwig Leuchsner, Paweł Szoman, Ioannes Ferberinus, Dávid Ferenc, letter

Valentin Radecke (?–1632) was a teacher in the Unitarian college of Kolozsvár from 1605, and bishop from 1615. He is the author of a number of works which have been brought into focus by recent research (Disciplina Ecclesiastica, Der kleine Katechismus, Geistliche Gesänge, Apologia). Th ere is a confessed gap in our knowledge about his fi rst decade in Kolozsvár. He was supposed to steer Transylvanian Unitarians away from Ferenc Dávid’s tradition (from nonadorantism), however, his church policy signifi cantly contributed to the almost complete survival of the plurality of Unitarianism. This paper off ers an overview of his career until his appointment as bishop, building on previously unknown letters and other new records. The letters were sent to Radecke by German and Polish Antitrinitarians (Georg Ludwig Leuchsner, Paweł Szoman and Ioannes Ferberinus). Th ey were discovered in the Archives of the Polish Unitarian Church, and copies of them are included at the end of the paper

Mircea Florian’s philosophy of given and the traditional metaphysical thinking

Filosofia datului la Mircea Florian și gândirea metafizică tradiţională

Author(s): Mihai-Dragoş Vădana / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 12/2016

Keywords: philosophy of given; traditional metaphysics; ontology; knowledge; Mircea Florian.

In Mircea Florian’s philosophy, the object of traditional metaphysics is critically disqualified in order to establish the given in general as a new beginning for philosophical thinking. In spite of this explicit departure, Florian’s philosophy of given is still being interpreted as a metaphysical thinking. This paper analyzes Florian’s concept of given and establishes several distinct figures of this concept. It compares them with the ontological and theological objects of traditional metaphysics. It shows that the figures of given work with an ontological postulate while removing an ontological project. On this basis, the author argues that the philosophy of given is both dependent and different from traditional metaphysics. Moreover, the author confirms his thesis with regard to the ontological conception of knowledge, one of Florian’s main theme of interest.

System Solutions for Social Readaptation of Prisoners in the Czech Republic

Systemowe rozwiązania w zakresie readaptacji społecznej więźniów w Republice Czeskiej

Author(s): Miloslav Jůzl / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2015

Keywords: penitencjarystyka; readaptacja społeczna; programy postępowania z więźniami

Autor omawia programy postępowania ze skazanymi ukierunkowane na ułatwienie i przyspieszenie powrótu więźniów do społeczeństwa. Programy te uwzględniają następujące elementy: wychowanie umysłowe, wychowanie moralne, wychowanie przez pracę,wychowanie estetyczne i wychowanie fizyczne. Autor uwypuklił i podkreślił znaczenie kompleksowej diagnozy, zawierającej ocenę społeczną, psychologiczną, pedagogiczną i medyczną skazanych w procesie programowania indywidualnych oddziaływań naprawczych z uwzględnieniem rozpoznania czynników ryzyka powrotności do przestępstwa. Istotnym elementem standardowego programu postępowania jest organizowanie aktywności w czasie wolnym poprzez rozwijanie zainteresowań, hobby i upodobań skazanego. Ponadto w artykule zaprezentowany jest elektroniczny projekt SARPO, system opieki postpenitencjarnej oraz ocena efektów ostatniej amnestii w Czechach.

The allusions to Cicero’s philosophical treatises in Marco Girolamo Vida’s De rei publicae dignitate – (…) deperditis barbarorum iniuria sex illis libris, quibus Tullius Cicero se ipse testatur explicasse hanc philosophiae partem

Nawiązania do traktatów filozoficznych Cycerona w „De rei publicae dignitate” Marka Hieronima Vidy – (…) deperditis barbarorum iniuria sex illis libris, quibus Tullius Cicero se ipse testatur explicasse hanc philosophiae partem

Author(s): Agnieszka Lew / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1/2018

Keywords: Marcus Hieronymus Vida; De rei publicae dignitate; philosophical treatise; Marcus Tullius Cicero;De re publica; Reginald Pole; Marco Flaminio; Giovanni del Monte; Marcello Cervini; Alvise Priuli; Iuli

This essay focuses on Vida’s dialogue on political philosophy De rei publicae dignitate dedicated to the papallegate at the Council of Trent, Cardinal Reginald Pole (1500–1558). Vida wanted his dialogue to serve as a replacementfor Cicero’s philosophical treatise De re publica, which was lost in his day.

INTELLECTUAL MEMORY AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN DESCARTES’S PHILOSOPHY OF MIND

INTELLECTUAL MEMORY AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN DESCARTES’S PHILOSOPHY OF MIND

Author(s): Dániel Schmal / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

Keywords: Descartes; intellectual memory; consciousness; late scholastics; Duns Scotus; self; Arnauld;

Although Descartes‟s ideas regarding consciousness and memory have been studied extensively, few attempts have been made to address their systemic relations. In order to redress this deficiency, I argue in favor of three interrelated theses. The first is that intellectual memory has a crucial role to play in Descartes‟s concept of consciousness, especially when it comes to explaining higher forms of consciousness. Second, the connection between memory and consciousness has been obscured by the fact that intellectual memory, taken as a subject in its own right, was relatively neglected in Descartes‟s philosophy: By and large, his views on the matter remained within the limits of late scholastic Scotism. Third, what makes the question of intellectual memory so fascinating in Descartes is not some ground-breaking insight into its nature; rather, it is his gradual recognition of the role that intellectual memory plays in the constitution of higher forms of consciousness. With these arguments, and relying on Descartes‟s 1648 correspondence with Antoine Arnauld, where he progressed beyond the substance-based approach to the self, I try to show that he deserves to be credited with a more prominent status in the history of the self and personhood than has previously been the case.

Screaming Silence: Medusa and the Enlightening Darkness of Ancient Texts and Modern Science

Screaming Silence: Medusa and the Enlightening Darkness of Ancient Texts and Modern Science

Author(s): Estella Ciobanu / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

Keywords: Medusa; Perseus; The Temple of My Familiar (Alice Walker); Greek/Roman mythology; Homer; Hesiod; Pindar; Herodotus; Diodorus Siculus; (Pseudo- )Apollodorus; Pausanias; Ovid; Fulgentius;

A controversial episode from Alice Walker’s novel The Temple of MyFamiliar (1990) – about ancient Greek cultural colonisation of Africa – suggests that theGreeks’ Medusa may be more than meets the eye or ear. This paper investigates the Medusamyth enshrined in ancient Graeco-Roman texts and its resurfacing in eighteenth-centurybiological taxonomy, with a view to identifying telling silences, if any, in the patriarchalconstrual of Medusa as woman/monster. I use a broad feminist approach to examine the engendering of the silence–speech continuum, for whose conceptualisation I draw hereespecially upon Hélène Cixous and Teresa de Lauretis. My concern is not so much whether,as claimed by diverse contemporary feminists, Medusa can be used as a potentempowerment figure for women, but rather what her silencing indicates about thepatriarchal epistemic project.

ROMAN ARBITRATION – PRIVATE OR PUBLIC DISPUTE RESOLUTION?

ROMAN ARBITRATION – PRIVATE OR PUBLIC DISPUTE RESOLUTION?

Author(s): Ivan Milotić / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

Keywords: arbitration; Roman law; arbitri; public law; private law; mandatory arbitration; ad-ministrative arbitration; arbitrium boni viri; arbitrium ex compromisso; arbitratus

By means of terminological evidence that refers to arbitration, the Romans reveal wide range of individual and peculiar forms of dispute resolution that functioned outside civil litigation. Arbitrium or arbitratus was only a senior and generic legal term that the Romans introduced because of its all-inclusive meaning and because it was a common denominator of substantially different forms of proceedings that were modeled from case to case. Most probably, each of these forms supposed a separate and specific method or technique of dispute settlement that was in much of its content self-designed, context-based and shaped on specific needs of a particular case. The evidence of Romans suggests that these forms covered a wide spectrum of options, which ranged between two extremities: from means of dispute resolution that were fully private and legally unsanctioned (e.g. arbitrium boni viri) to those which in some way utilized the legal system. In former ones, to a certain degree, depending from case to case, the public authorities exercised their powers (e.g. dispute settlements ordered by a magistrate, administrative arbitrations etc.). Between these two points, the Romans knew of many degrees, i.e. individual methods that combined private initiative with a slight oversight of the Roman state. Taken together, all degrees that ranged between fully private and public points created a bridge between private and public justice. In this paper the author will examine position and role of arbitration (and arbitri) in the legal scale of the Roman system which varies between two extremities: public and private. Thereby he will make efforts to determine to what extent and with which constraints arbitration may be principally perceived as private means of dispute resolution. However, he will emphasize that most arbitrations were not fully private, while certain groups of them operated with the most evident impact of the public law.