Faith and Authority - The Curse (Swearing Oaths). A Comparative Study of Oaths and Law

Author: Zhang Yonghe
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: In general, belief is a value and possesses ultimate significance, representing a value demonstrated through inner certainty. Belief is a spiritual phenomenon of humanity, manifesting as the adherence and compliance of social members to a certain system of ideas. Belief serves as the spiritual foundation of humans, aiming to alleviate obstacles in the human mind and provide conditions for the realization of personal perfection, serving as a necessary condition and means for humans to regulate their relationship with their environment. However, beyond this level of belief, there exists pure belief. Pure belief possesses rational purity and is an inner determination of the human mind. Religion, as well as curses (swearing oaths) and vows, only have rational practicality. General norms with rational practicality still retain elements of belief. Although law is an expression of practical reason, since law is supported by state political philosophy, it no longer holds any significance of belief. "Legal belief" is a wrong proposition, and it is a mistaken understanding that people regard Socrates' death as a typical example of legal belief. Belief and authority are two completely different concepts. "Legal belief" is an unargued speculation that cannot become a reality in the West and should not exist in the market in China either. "Legal belief" in China can only divert attention from the crisis of social values, confuse the concepts of belief and authority, and is a concept fundamentally unsuitable for China's national conditions.