Legal Literacy - Of the many opinions that exist regarding the purpose of law, if we want to inventory them, there are only two theories, namely ethical theory and utility theory. These two theories are the foundation of other theories or opinions, and these other theories are variants or combinations of ethical and/or utility theories.

Ethical Theory in the Purpose of Law

The philosopher Aristotle introduced ethical theory in his book entitled Rhetorica and Ethica Nicomachea. This theory argues that the purpose of law is solely to realize justice. Justice here is ius suum cuique tribuere (the complete slogan is iustitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius suum cuique tribuere) which can be interpreted as "giving to each person what is their part or right". Furthermore, Aristotle divides justice into two, namely commutative justice (justice that gives to each person according to their services) and distributive justice (justice that gives each person the same amount without having to remember individual services).

It is called ethical theory because the content of law must be determined solely by our ethical awareness of what is just and what is unjust. This theory is considered biased by L.J. Van Apeldoorn because it excessively glorifies justice, which in the end will not be able to create general rules. Meanwhile, general rules are a means to legal certainty and order.