The inquiry is not of goals, but of the means to secure the goals the end pre-exists in the means. After all, most men agree that clean air, good housing, and a commodious job are desirable goals. It is the use of law for laudable goals at the possible expense of human freedom which commands re-examination. The existence of past analysis does not mean that the present reiteration and refinement of essential ideas is unrewarding we may need a gentle reminder of the past, and demonstration of its applicability to the dynamic present. Eradication of poverty, improvement of the environment, and assurance of economic equality for all men ring a more responsive chord in the breast of the sympathetic lawyer than cold, jurisprudential analysis. It is much more exciting to consider what the law can do to and for man, with or without his consent. Such considerations should have been long ago made and laid to rest. On the first blush, it may appear singular for a law review to consider the general quantity and quality of the law. This article proposes briefly to scrutinize individual freedom and the rule of law, to determine if the working definitions are accurate, and to decide if overgeneralization has obscured the whole truth of partially valid tenets. If law is defined as restraint on human action and liberty as the ab sence of restraint, the concepts are inimical and conciliation impossible. The current milieu of high rebellion versus "law and order," of do-your-own-thing versus the sanctity of the traditional,² bringing into conflict personal action and public authority, does little to disabuse the notion. Cursory examination of these concepts seemingly reveals the clear instance of inevitably warring propositions. Ĭontemporary Western society places high value upon two ideals: individual liberty’ and the rule of law. This article is scheduled for publication in the November 1971 issue of The Willamette Law Journal and is printed here with the express permission of Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. Foley, Jr., is an attorney associated with the firm of Souther, Spaulding, Kinsey, Williamson & Schwabe and practices law in Portland, Oregon.
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