pdf INTRODUCTION TO LAW: Brazil (English Edition)

This work is the result of an effort to summarize, in a very concise way, the subject of Introduction to Law, a discipline I take great joy in teaching. As we will see later, this subject is an introduction to the legal courses in our universities, and its mission is to provide the basic, general, and essential concepts for understanding Law, which is why it is so important.
Law cannot be understood without the integration of other fields of knowledge, such as Philosophy, Sociology, History, Anthropology, Psychology, and many other branches of science, as all social sciences aim to create the essential and indispensable conditions for the very existence of society.
For law students to achieve success in their journey, they must possess the humility of a servant and understand that all power derived from knowledge is for peace, others will say for the common good, and still others for justice. In any case, there is no justice without the intervention of God, for He is the owner of Justice, which is why I have included in the conclusion of this work a chapter entitled "The Justice of God."
Anyone who works with Law must be ready to serve society with an open mind, free of prejudice, because Law goes beyond mere rules.
If Law aims at a social order for the common good, how can it be understood without considering the serious social problems that affect us?
Our challenge is great, as we live in a country that holds records for social inequalities, income concentration, and poverty. The Brazilian people, in general, do not have access to quality education that forms critical citizens. There is a lack of basic conditions for health, food, work, and housing. Land distribution in Brazil is unjust. We must ask and understand why the dramatic and perverse dynamics of income and wealth concentration, massive unemployment, poverty, and hopelessness persist, producing distorted values, spiritual, personal, and family disintegration, and an expansion of violent crime.
The challenge of this discipline is to guide the first steps of law students on this new path.
This book is merely an essay and should follow its course, expanding, developing, and deepening, naturally with the special cooperation of its readers in correcting and reviewing texts and content, to finally bear the fruits of peace.
Walter de Paula Silva