Positivism

b) Critically evaluate the views of Austin and Hart as to why people abide by the law. It is fair to say that people generally follow the rules of the law. However, it is often questioned why people abide by the law? This question is one which has proved to be highly controversial. Many individuals have attempted to answer this difficult question. John Austin and H.L.A. Hart are two very renowned positivists who attempted to address this issue. Austin strongly believed that people follow laws…

Summary: The Law is a well written piece by Frederic Bastiat on the defense of liberty, natural human rights, rule of law, and the importance of true justice. The context of the reading begins with a definition and a purpose of law. Law can be defined as the enforcement of rightful defense via a collective force. Bastiat stated that all purposes of law should be used to protect life, liberty, property and punish plunder. Plunder is defined by Bastiat as taking belongings from one inhabitant…

Proposition: Hart argues that we conceptualized the Grudge informer case by maintaining unjust law is still a law, but perhaps so unjust that it should be disobeyed: On the one hand, we will begin our analysis by explaining the first part of the proposition “Hart argues that we conceptualized the Grudge informer case by maintaining unjust law is still a law”. In order to understand why according to him an unjust law is still a law, it is necessary to remind briefly his view on the connection…

Hourani provides an alternative interpretation to Thrasymachus’s position on justice that is best characterized as deontological. Similarly to Kerferd and Nicholson, Hourani takes the position that Thrasymachus’s opening statement is designed to make an “impression of daring cynicism”; however, that justice is the advantage of the stronger is not meant to be taken as a literal definition of justice. Instead, Hourani advocates that Thrasymachus is talking about obedience to the law when…

When commentators discuss the United States Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, there is often spirited debate concerning which decisions constitute the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ in the Court’s history. Far too often, this debate splits along ideological lines, with progressive commentators praising landmark decisions such as Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges, and conservative commentators lamenting decisions such as Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Lawrence v. Texas. Regardless of one’s ideological…

Natural Law Theory and Neo-Natural Law Theory Natural Law Theory starts in the belief that there is an order to the universe. This ordering of the universe leads to laws that are natural; things have a purpose. The principles of law are an inherent part of nature. Even without the human capacity for reason, the principles of law would exist (Perlman). From a moral perspective, natural law is an affirmational objectivism, meaning that there can be a reasonable validity to a moral position.…

The play antigone evidently demonstrates the contention of common law and divine law.Here divine law is spoken to by antigone while mainstream law is spoken to by ruler Creon. Aside from this there are different characters in the play who maintains Antigone in the play the contention is not of identities but rather of ideas– the contention of standards. The ruler bolsters mainstream law while others underpins the religious soul that is divine law. In any case is the standard of the god in…

The science of administration has caused the establishment of Public Administration and hence, the need to study the importance of it. By definition, Public Administration is the detailed and systematic execution of public law and the particular application of the general law. However, the statement alone does not justify the need to study its importance. Therefore, keeping in view Woodrow Wilson’s article “The Study of Administration”, the essay shall explore the significance of Public…

Declaratory Theory Is A Fairy Tale Blackstone proposed the declaratory theory, namely judges are ‘not delegated to pronounce a new law, but to maintain and expound the old one’. Lord Esher’s judgment in Willis v Baddeley contended that judges ‘frequently have to apply existing law to circumstances as to which it has not previously been authoritatively laid down that such law is applicable.’ They believe that judges’ role is just to discover law and apply it to different circumstances. However…

I am going to begin this paper by stating that I do, in fact, side with Motley. However, because I want to be an attorney, and I enjoy debate, I feel I must explain how exactly I came to this conclusion, as it was not an easy one. Originally, I was torn between Motley and Anderson. I agreed with both of them in that a sender and receiver is necessary to facilitate communication, thus eliminating Clevenger; however, I struggled with the differentiation they drew in regards to intentionality.…