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interests of preserving the vision of the academic project, our gratitude as
well.
I would like to use Woolman’s observation of ‘Aristotle’s rejection of
abstract ideals and his embrace of virtues tied directly to action, character
and very specific ways of being in the world’ 40 to make a statement about
the critical reflection that the events surrounding the Diane Victor artworks
should have made apparent. The law does not exist for its own sake and nor
does legal philosophy, human rights or politics. They exist — I would argue —
merely to set the stage for ‘an action’, ‘a change’ or ‘a shift’ to happen – this
is where people’s lives are touched. I am always the first to praise the
importance of a good academic conversation but I fear the risk of writing
eruditely on the deeper meaning of Diane Victor’s artworks — those ills which
she portrays — and then after being complemented by my peers and
lecturers, slithering back to the comfort of my Audi A3, my HP laptop and my
comfy bedroom only to speak of such horrors in the abstract. This would be
just the same as denying the truth embedded in the artworks or reacting with
hostility and discomfort to them. A good way to start would be working
within the existing socio-legal and political framework to effect the social
transformation we philosophise in the conference rooms and lecture halls
even if we disagree with its philosophical identity, even if only to try and
change it from the inside. Talk, as they say, is cheap!
40 S Woolman ‘On rights, rules, refusals and relationships: a reply to Van Marle’s
jurisprudence of generosity’ (2007) 18(3) Stellenbosch Law Review 508 517.