Miguel Reale (6 November 1910 – 14 April 2006) was a Brazilian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

known as one of the most important jurists of Brazil. He was one of the leaders of

Integralism In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism () is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues the principle that the Catholic faith should be the basis of public law and public policy within civil society, wherever the ...

in Brazil and an ideologue of the

Brazilian Integralist Action Brazilian Integralist Action ( Portuguese: ''Ação Integralista Brasileira'', AIB) was an integralist/fascist political party in Brazil. It was based upon the ideology of Brazilian Integralism as developed by its leader Plínio Salgado. Brazi ...

. Reale served as Secretary of Justice for the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in 1947. He founded the Brazilian Institute of Philosophy in 1949 and the São Paulo-based Inter-American Society of Philosophy in 1954. He was a member of the

Brazilian Academy of Letters The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL; English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on Tuesday, ...

Biography

Reale graduated from the Law Faculty of the

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

(1934), where he was professor (1941) and rector (1949-1950, 1969-1973). In addition, he received the title of professor emeritus of the University of São Paulo. As a scholar, he became well known in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and in

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

for his works on

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. Was a prolific writer in the legal field, having written several classic works of Brazilian philosophical and legal thought. Among his works: Philosophy of Law and Preliminary Lessons of Law. Received notoriety when formulating the three-dimensional theory of law on which the law has three dimensions:

social fact In sociology, social facts are values, cultural norms, and social structures that transcend the individual and can exercise social control. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim defined the term, and argued that the discipline of sociology shoul ...

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social sciences * Value (ethics), concept which may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Axiology, interdisciplinary study of values, including e ...

and legal norm. Briefly, his theory can be understood as follows: "The social fact (

sociological Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in ...

aspect) is valued (

axiological Value theory, also called ''axiology'', studies the nature, sources, and types of values. It is a branch of philosophy and an interdisciplinary field closely associated with social sciences such as economics, sociology, anthropology, and psychol ...

aspect) and, due to this, it produces a legal standard." Thus, the three dimensions of law come into connection through a peculiar cultural

dialectic Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...

called "dialectic of polarity and implication." In 1969 he was appointed by President

Arthur da Costa e Silva Artur da Costa e Silva (; 3 October 1899 – 17 December 1969) was a Brazilian Army Marshal and the second president of the Brazilian military government that came to power after the 1964 coup d'état. He reached the rank of Marshal of the Braz ...

for "High Level Commission" set up to review the 1967

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. Resulted this work part of the text of

Constitutional Amendment A constitutional amendment (or constitutional alteration) is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly alt ...

No. 1, dated 17 October 1969, which consolidated the

military regime A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a strongman, or by a council of mi ...

in Brazil. In 2002 Reale, Ada Pellegrini Grinover,

Maria Helena Diniz Maria Helena Diniz (born 1956, São Paulo) is a Brazilian jurist and professor. She currently holds the chair of full professor of Civil law (legal system), Civil Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, where she obtained her mas ...

and Gofredo da Silva Teles Júnior actively participated in the important drafting of the Brazilian Civil Code. The project was sanctioned by President

Fernando Henrique Cardoso Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor, and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 1 January 2003. He was the first Brazi ...

, becoming the Law 10.406/2002. He is considered the chief architect of Brazil's current

Civil Code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property law, property, family law, family, and law of obligations, obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdiction ...

. Miguel Reale had prominent role in the field of philosophy, occupying the following positions: Co-founder of the Brazilian Institute of Philosophy of Lisbon, Portugal. Organizing seven Brazilian Congresses of Philosophy (1950-2002) and the VIII Inter-American Congress of Philosophy (Brasilia, 1972). Special Rapporteur on the XII, XIII and XIV

World Congress of Philosophy The World Congress of Philosophy (originally known as the International Congress of Philosophy) is a global meeting of philosophers held every five years under the auspices of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP). First or ...

(Venice, 1958, and Mexico City, 1963, and Vienna, 1968). Lecturer specially invited by the

International Federation of Philosophical Societies The International Federation of Philosophical Societies (French: ''Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie'', FISP) is a world organization for learned societies in philosophy. Its member-societies arguably include every country ...

for the XVI and XVIII World Congress (Düsseldorf, Germany, 1978, and Brighton, UK, 1988). Organizer and president of the II Brazilian Congress of Legal and Social Philosophy (

, 1986) and the third and fourth Congresses ( João Pessoa,

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

, 1988/1990).

Biography

References

See also