15 - Preclassical Conflict of Laws Configured

Summary

To write the intellectual history of a doctrinal field in a given period is to address a double-edged question. A period is defined by a minimum of internal coherence, as well as by its “external” differentiation from the adjacent periods. At the same time, these unifying characteristics coexist with internal divergences. The paradigm of an epoch is shaped by these defining ideas and the tensions generated, which over time give rise to a different environment and inspire new paradigms. Such a history is therefore a balancing exercise between concord and dissonance, our historical understanding inevitably coloured by the aspirations, sensibilities and tensions of subequent epochs.