Abstract
Deities often hide in plain sight, like Venus occurring inconspicuously in the early writings of John Selden. Her presence at the very inception of English law is cardinal in the two histories that Selden writes in his mid-twenties, "England’s Epinomis" and "Jani Anglorum facies altera," both dating from 1610. In either work, Venus stands for more than a chance encounter with transcendence and points to a range of Platonizing concerns on the nature of legal orders. The article documents Selden’s ancient and modern sources, proves the theoretical bearing of his early legal historiography, and presents the general theory of legal orders to which Selden’s renewed Platonizing concerns lead in his 1616 "Notes on Fortescue." By so doing, the article reveals the speculative relevance of Selden’s thought and exemplifies the law’s power to demonstrate and realize the unbroken connectedness of reality.
Translated title of the contribution | A goddess occurs. Venus and the history of English law in early Selden |
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Original language | Italian |
Pages (from-to) | 519-546 |
Journal | Quaderni Fiorentini per la Storia del Pensiero Giuridico Moderno |
Volume | 53 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2024 |