That the law of a society is not an eternal object but involves change and development is an historically well examined fact and subject to theoretical analysis and reconstruction. Given the complexity of social, cultural, technological and economic developments the legal system needs to adjust to new situations and their requirements. Whether one follows more the positivist school and its conceptualism, whether one follows legal realists, or eventually favors natural law traditions, one has to meet the challenge to develop and coordinate the legal rules in order to preserve the spiritual insights manifest and present in the law.
What is submerged, what is implicit, and what is not sufficiently examined? Where can “Enhancing Life Studies” make a difference? Where do we want to shift scholarly attention?
We contend that the development of the laws of the legal system are not only reacting and responding to changing societal and cultural contexts, but the dynamic underneath the change is the striving to enhance life and to preserve the spiritual insights in the law. Conversely, heated debates about changes of the law must be seen as conflicts about understanding life and the values and goods we see as the basis of enhancing life.
During recent debates, a strong body of literature emerged focusing on the crucial impact of Christianity on the development of modern law traditions. Enhancing Life Studies appreciates this research and aspires to fully explore what enhancing life implies in the legal realm.
Enhancing Life Studies will will ask three type of challenging and future-oriented questions:
(i) To what extend and where does the legal realm presuppose and need spiritual laws at its base and for its life-sustaining development?
(ii) How can the legal system enable, encourage and support people in their aspirations for enhancing life?
(iii) How can the law be open to spiritual realities transcending the law, like mercy, forgiveness, and radical love?
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