Abstract

Today, current developments in technology (smart contracts, blockchain applications, etc.) are forcing us to reconsider the relationship that exists between law and free will, between the force that the law has to compel us to observe its commands and the active participation of the subjects who are its recipients. Why does the law aim to guide social conduct, through rewards and punishments, rather than directly cause it? The essay attempts to answer this question by showing how the belief that the law cannot be a direct «cause» of behaviour has its origin in the Christian tradition’s reading of Aristotle.