Law and Contemporary Society - The Visible and Invisible Hands of the Law (Global Focus on Knowledge)

Series

AY 2010

Arts and Sciences

Law and Contemporary Society - The Visible and Invisible Hands of the Law (Global Focus on Knowledge)

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According to the mythic tales of China’s golden age of perfect contentment, an old man is described in the tranquil world of the Annals of Emperors and Kings as singing, “When the sun comes up, I go out to work the fields, when the sun goes down, I rest. If I want to drink, I dig a well, if want to eat, I cultivate my fields. What is the power of the Emperor to me?” The real meaning of the song is that this ubiquitous “power of the emperor” wondrously maintains the peace and prosperity of the world like an “invisible hand of god.” The pervasiveness of the emperor’s authority applies in the same way to “law.” In their daily activities, people, companies, and organizations may proclaim: “What is the power of the law to me?” But this tranquility can only exist because the “invisible hand of the law” is functioning. This invisible hand of the law becomes visible in those domains in society that are creating or undergoing change. Modern society is particularly marked by the drastic changes occurring in various areas. If we compare the way the world is now in this century with the way it was in the final decade of the 20th century after the passing of only a dozen or so years, we can quickly see very clear changes. For example, great changes are very evident in the fields of medicine with the advances in regenerative medicine, information technology with the advent of the Internet, science and technology with the making of innumerable new inventions and discoveries, economics with the increasing globalization of markets, and culture with greater respect for feminism and with the creation of urban communities placing new emphasis on scenery, views, and sunlight. And more than anything, our modern society is marked by the transformations and innovations advancing with accelerating speed in all aspects of people’s lives, these changes being particularly spurred by greater interest in civic participation and consumer affairs. In order to minimize the transition costs when social conditions and people’s values change, a conscious dependence on the controls and governance provided by the law is necessary. Conversely, the law will also change to become responsive to the new social conditions and values. The “plan” for this Global Focus on Knowledge Lecture Series this time, then, is to pick up from Japanese society several cases on the frontier of this interaction between law and society and to consider them together with the lecture attendees.

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The Visible and Invisible Hands of the Law