A big part of studying law is about unwritten principles that should be applied and that can often supersede written laws. The questions about how they are applied, or if they should be applied, often have their roots in philosophy itself.
Alexander van Gilst
Law and Philosophy
What do you think philosophy adds to your education?
Your main study is often about applying general principles to it. For example, justice and proportionality. And it's not often talked about why or how those principles are developed, and if they should even be applied in general. It adds the framework in which the law, for example, works and gives a basis to it.
What is philosophy?
A few thousand years have gone into thinking about this question! I would say it's more about questioning normality and opening a discourse on the status quo. It’s about trying to get into why things are the way they are and in which ways they could be improved.
Does philosophy offer any answers?
Yes — though not always in the way you’d expect. Philosophy doesn’t hand you simple solutions, but it gives you frameworks to think clearly and critically. It helps you understand which kinds of answers are possible, and why some are better than others. That’s incredibly valuable, especially when dealing with complex issues like justice or fairness. Take the question of how society should be organized. Philosophers like John Rawls argue that we should structure society so that even the worst-off are as well off as possible. Others, like Nozick, focus on individual rights and say justice is about respecting people’s entitlements. These views clash, but philosophy helps you understand both perspectives and weigh them. It doesn’t force you to pick sides — it helps you justify your position and see its consequences.
Do you think there's a special relationship between law and philosophy?
Absolutely — I think the two are deeply connected. Law is often seen as a set of rules and procedures, but philosophy helps you understand why those rules exist in the first place. It digs into the principles behind the law — like justice, fairness, responsibility — and questions whether those principles hold up in every context.
For me, studying both disciplines side by side has really shown how they shape each other. Legal systems often rely on moral assumptions, sometimes without fully questioning them. Philosophy forces you to take a step back and ask: is this the right foundation? Are we being consistent?
A good example is the idea of punishment. The law might say someone deserves a sentence for a crime, but philosophy asks: what do we mean by “deserve”? Is the goal punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation — or something else entirely?
That kind of reflection doesn’t make the law less practical — it makes it more human. It reminds us that laws aren’t just technical instruments; they express values. And philosophy helps clarify, test, and sometimes challenge those values.