ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores some small part of lawyers' reasonings, and because it has been written by an anthropologist, it is preconditioned by two assumptions. The first is that in almost every human society, disputes are brought before judges for resolution. And second, the process of judicial reasoning is heavily conditioned by culture, and consequently is itself a culturally relative phenomenon. The book examines the differential role of the reasonable man concept in various legal cultures and systems, and will explain the variations, primarily in relation to political factors and in particular the factor of sovereignty. It provides a rationale, upon which not only is Barotse jurisprudence explicated, but which might also serve as a most appropriate framework of reference for analyzing the underlying rationales of other primitive legal systems.
