Michael Arnheim
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Michael Thomas Walter Arnheim (also known as "Doctor Mike"; born 24 March 1944) is a practising London barrister and author. He has written twenty-two published books to date, including most recently the philosophical work, ''The God Book'', and political works, ''Two Models of Government'' and ''Anglo-American Law: A Comparison''. Previously published books include ''The Handbook of Human Rights Law'', ''Principles of the Common Law'', ''The U.S. Constitution for Dummies'' (part of Wiley's ''
For Dummies ''For Dummies'' is an extensive series of instructional reference books which are intended to present non-intimidating guides for readers new to the various topics covered. The series has been a worldwide success with editions in numerous lang ...
'' series), and ''The Problem with Human Rights Law''.


Early life and education

Michael Arnheim was born in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, to a secular orthodox Jewish family. His father, Dr Wilhelm Arnheim, who had come to South Africa from
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in 1933, was a medical doctor and a
polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
with a dry sense of humor. His mother, Victoria ("Vicky", née Shames) was a music teacher and an active member of the Council of Johannesburg's Great Synagogue. She was born in South Africa of Lithuanian-born parents, her father, Wolf Shames, being a noted rabbinical scholar. Michael Arnheim was particularly close to his paternal grandmother, Martha Arnheim (née Bernhardt, always called "Oma"), from whom he learnt
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
and by whom he was entertained with her amusing tales of life in Baerwalde, Pomerania, in pre-World War I Germany. Oma's husband (Michael Arnheim's grandfather), Max Arnheim, a prosperous barrel manufacturer, served in the German army in World War I, and Oma's father, Julius Bernhardt, fought proudly on the Prussian side in the Danish- Prussian War of 1864, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. As a 14-year-old student at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg, Arnheim was picked to join the "Quiz Kids" team of five capped and gowned teenagers, appearing on South Africa's
Springbok Radio Springbok Radio (spelled ''Springbokradio'' in Afrikaans, ) was a South African nationwide radio station that operated from 1950 to 1986. History SABC's decision in December 1945 to develop a commercial service was constrained by post-war financia ...
, and of which he became a stalwart member, "retiring" at the age of eighteen. He entered Johannesburg's
University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...
at the age of 16, he took a first-class B.A. in History and Classics at the age of 19, first-class Honours at 20 and an M.A. with distinction at the age of 21. He then went up to
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
, on a National Scholarship (later converted to a St John's College scholarship supplemented by a Strathcona Travel Exhibition). Besides his academic pursuits (including teaching numerous undergraduates) he engaged in student politics, being elected a member of the Junior Combination Room committee and College NUS secretary, in which capacity he represented the College at several national conferences, including one in 1968 at which he proposed a widely supported motion to the effect that the English A-Level system was unduly narrow and should be broadened. He captained the College's University Challenge team, which displayed a hedgehog as its mascot by way of a gentle ribbing of the then Master of St John's, John Boys Smith, who had just published a paper on the subject. Arnheim had as his Ph.D. supervisor A.H.M. ("Hugo") Jones, then Cambridge Professor of Ancient History, and John Crook as his college mentor, who was to occupy the position of Professor of Ancient History later on.


Career

In 1969, at the age of 25, Arnheim was awarded his Cambridge Ph.D. His
doctoral dissertation A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
was subsequently published by the
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
under the title ''The Senatorial Aristocracy in the Later Roman Empire''. In the meantime Arnheim was elected a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, where he did a great deal of teaching for a number of colleges while researching his next book, ''Aristocracy in Greek Society'' (1977), which he was invited by Professor
Howard Hayes Scullard Howard Hayes Scullard (9 February 1903 – 31 March 1983) was a British historian specialising in ancient history, notable for editing the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' and for his many published works. Scullard's father was Herbert Hayes S ...
to write as part of the prestigious Thames & Hudson series, Aspects of Greek and Roman Life. At the age of 31 Arnheim was invited to take up the position of full Professor and Head of the Department of Classics back at his old university in South Africa. During this time he devised a new system of learning
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, which he would later integrate into a new approach to the learning of European languages in general. In 1979 he published ''South Africa after Vorster'', which predicted that the alternative to White rule was not a shared-power democracy between Blacks and Whites, as White liberals argued, but rule by a Black oligarchy at the expense of Whites and ordinary Blacks alike. Arnheim's next book. ''Is Christianity True?'' (1984), caused quite a stir and was translated into several languages, including Spanish. Through a close re-examination of the historical evidence the book asserted that most Christian beliefs about Jesus were untrue. One review wrote: Despite this, Arnheim was invited to address Professor Henry Chadwick's Patristics seminar in the Cambridge Divinity School. Despondent about the future of South Africa, Arnheim returned to Britain, where he was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1988, and went into practice as a London barrister specializing in civil litigation, with a certain amount of criminal defence on the side, notably the Cardiff Prison Riot trial in 1992. Arnheim, in 1992, was an early voice in the legal profession to adamantly insist that a person could face criminal liability for knowingly concealing their
HIV-positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the ...
status from a sexual partner. His civil law practice has been largely in the field of commercial litigation including some international litigation as of counsel to Brown & Welsh P.C. of Meriden, Connecticut. From early on in his practice at the Bar, Arnheim wrote articles in favor of clients' being allowed to come direct to a barrister, thus avoiding the additional expense of having to be referred by a solicitor. His pleas fell on deaf ears until the idea was taken up in a hard-hitting report by the Director of Fair Trading,
Sir John Vickers Sir John Vickers (born 7 July 1958) is a British economist and the Warden of All Souls College, Oxford. Education Vickers studied at Eastbourne Grammar School and Oriel College, Oxford. He graduated with a DPhil from the University of Oxford ...
, published in 2000. Arnheim was one of the first barristers to register for direct public access when this was eventually allowed in 2004. Arnheim has also written extensively on other legal topics, ranging from court procedure to the common law, constitutional law, judicial power and human rights.


Ideas

Arnheim is known for his ideas in several fields, notably religion, history, politics, and law.


Religion

''The God Book'' (2015), a sequel to ''Is Christianity True?'' (1984), is a thoroughgoing critique of
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
and conventional
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
alike. The book argues that atheism and conventional religion are both deficient in credibility as well as in toleration. Arnheim prefers
Deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning "god") is the Philosophy, philosophical position and Rationalism, rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that Empirical evi ...
, or the belief in an impersonal God who does not get involved in the day-to-day affairs of the world. Arnheim additionally authored an article entitled "God Without Religion" for publication in ''Pandeism: An Anthology'' (2017).


History & Politics

Arnheim's Cambridge Ph.D. thesis, published by the Oxford University Press in 1972 under the title ''The Senatorial Aristocracy in the Later Roman Empire'', offered a new explanation of the "decline and fall" of the Roman Empire in the West. Arnheim contended that the reason the Western Empire fell was that the central government in the West was sapped from within by the senatorial aristocracy, who now again dominated the top administrative posts while building up their own countervailing local power through the spread of large estates. As a result, the central government proved unable to withstand the "barbarian" incursions. The same rise of the senatorial aristocracy did not occur in the Eastern half of the Empire, which therefore survived for another thousand years, albeit in a gradually shrinking state. This analysis itself was based on a new theory about the essential nature of governmental power, namely that there are and have ever been essentially only two models of government: (a) where power is concentrated in the hands of a minority, whether hereditary or not; and (b) where power is concentrated in the hands of a single individual. This analysis was also the subject of ''Aristocracy in Greek Society'' (1977). The same model was then tested and found to apply to modern history and the present-day world as well. This is the theme of ''Two Models of Government'', published in 2016.


Law

In 1994 Arnheim was invited to edit a volume of essays on the
Common Law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
in the prestigious Dartmouth series, and published in the US by New York University Press. This book was followed up by ''Principles of the Common Law'' (2004), which sought to restate some basic principles of the Common Law that had been lost sight of in recent years. Arnheim was invited by
Butterworths LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer inform ...
to write a book on the drafting of settlement agreements: ''Drafting Settlements of Disputes: A Guide for Litigators'' (1994). In 2000 he was asked by Butterworths to write (together with District Judge Christopher Tromans) a guide to the new procedural rules that had just been introduced: ''Civil Courts Practice and Procedure Handbook''. The ''Handbook of Human Rights Law'', published by
Kogan Page Kogan Page is an independent publishing company founded in 1967 and headquartered in London, with branches in New York and New Delhi. Kogan Page specialises in business books and digital content, with over 1,000 titles published in key subject a ...
in 2004, provided a whole new take on the subject focusing particularly on the way human rights law had been hijacked by special interest groups made up notably of illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, terrorist suspects and even convicted killers. This theme was picked up in the booklet written at the invitation of the Civitas thinktank titled ''The Problem with Human Rights Law'' (2015), in which it was argued that the unduly "politically correct" tenor of human rights court decisions in the United Kingdom were largely the fault not of the European Court of Human Rights, as the British Government believed, but of the domestic judiciary. Judicial supremacism has been a recurrent theme of many of Arnheim's articles, notably the article titled "Five Centuries of Legal Thinking" that he was invited by St John's College, Cambridge, to write on the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the College. Judicial supremacism also figures quite prominently in ''Two Models of Government''. Arnheim was delighted to be asked to write the ''U.S. Constitution for Dummies'' (2009) as part of the well-known Wileys series of books with their distinctive black-and-yellow covers. To accommodate Arnheim's own opinions the publishers created two new icons, one for "In my Opinion" and the other for "Controversy". The Foreword for the first edition was written by Senator
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
. The Foreword is omitted from the second edition.


Bibliography


Books

* ''History of St John's College, Cambridge'', St John's College, 1968 *
The Senatorial Aristocracy in the Later Roman Empire
', Oxford University Press, 1972. * ''The Study of a Civilization'', Witwatersrand University Press, 1976. * ''The Adventures of Marcus'', University of the Witwatersand, 1976 *
Aristocracy in Greek Society
' (Aspects of Greek and Roman Life), Thames & Hudson, 1977. *
South Africa after Vorster
', Howard Timmins, 1979. *
Is Christianity True?
' Gerald Duckworth, 1984. * ''Arnheim's Answer: Secret of Student Success'', Elliot Right Way Books, 1986. * ''Drafting Settlements of Disputes'', Tolley, 1994. * ''The Common Law'' (International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory), Dartmouth, 1994. *
Civil Courts Practice and Procedure
' Handbook (with District Judge Christopher Tromans), Butterworth, 1999. * ''Principles of the Common Law'', Gerald Duckworth, 2004. *
The Handbook of Human Rights Law
', Kogan Page, 2004. *
U.S. Constitution for Dummies
', John Wiley, 2009; 2nd edition 2018. *
The God Book
', Imprint Academic, 2015. *
The Problem with Human Rights Law
', Civitas, 2015. *
Two Models of Government: A New Classification in Terms of Power
', Societas, Imprint Academic, 2016. * "God Without Religion," in
Pandeism: An Anthology
', 2017. * ''God Without Religion: An Alternative View of Life, the Universe & Everything'', Black House Publishing, 2016. * ''A Practical Guide to Your Human Rights and Civil Liberties'' ("Straightforward Guide to" series), Straightforward Publishing, 2017. * ''U.S. Constitution for Dummies'', 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2018. * ''Anglo-American Law: A Comparison, The Lawbook Exchange'' (Talbot Publishing), 2019.


Other writings

;Journal articles *"A conspiracy too far?" ''
New Law Journal ''New Law Journal'' (NLJ) is a weekly legal magazine for legal professionals, first published in 1822. It provides information on case law, legislation and changes in practice. It is funded by subscription and generally available to most of the l ...
'' (August 17, 2018) *"Lord Neuberger's salutary warning", ''New Law Journal'' (November 9, 2018) *"The gay wedding cake saga", ''New Law Journal'' (December 7, 2018) *"Monarchs, judges & controversial Prime Ministers", ''New Law Journal'' (October 3, 2019) *"Don't blame the judges", ''New Law Journal'' (January 24, 2020) ;Blogs
Huffington Post page for Dr Arnheim
*

,
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
, Posted: 20/10/2015 17:36 BST Updated: 20/10/2015 17:59 BST *

, Huffington Post (November 26, 2015) *

, Huffington Post (July 12, 2016)


References


External links

* Website: http://www.doctormike.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnheim, Michael 1944 births Living people British barristers Legal writers Religious writers Alumni of King Edward VII School (Johannesburg) University of the Witwatersrand alumni People from Johannesburg Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Contestants on British game shows South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African people of German-Jewish descent South African people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent