Purpose of the Journal of Law, Philosophy, and Culture
The Journal of Law, Philosophy and Culture seeks to promote scholarly inquiry into the significance of law and legal institutions for culture and the common good. The Journal offers a forum for scholarship in jurisprudence, legal and moral philosophy, social sciences and the humanities, taking the relationship of law and culture as its point of orientation. The Journal is a publication of the Center for Law, Philosophy and Culture and of the Columbus School of Law of The Catholic University of America.
Rooted in the Christian intellectual tradition, the Journal adopts the definition of culture offered by the Second Vatican Council, that is, as concerning "the cultivation of the goods and values of nature." Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes ¶ 53. The Journal approaches culture, understood in this sense, as an essential dimension of basic human flourishing. Because law serves to coordinate the pursuit of the good in particular communities, the Journal recognizes that law has meaning as a cultural and historical phenomenon. As such, the Journal is premised on the idea that the study of law and legal institutions can reveal underlying truths about human nature and conduct, and in turn, contribute to the transformation and renewal of both law and culture. Among such truths, the Journal holds those of the dignity and freedom of the human person to be of central importance. Furthermore, the Journal recognizes that inquiry into the role of law in the renewal of culture calls for appeal to the full range of disciplines concerned with the human good: among others, philosophy, theology, history, literature, politics, ethics, and the arts.
Concern for law's relation to culture and the common good is central to the universal human search for meaning. At a point in history where scholarship into the meaning of culture for human flourishing is critical, the Journal seeks submissions from scholars who are interested in examining questions arising at the intersection of law, philosophy and culture. In this pursuit, the Journal aims to "stir reason to move beyond all isolation and . . . to run risks so that it may attain whatever is beautiful, good and true." Pope John Paul II, Fides Et Ratio ¶ 56.