About Legal Positivism
Legal positivism reflects the belief that law is nothing more than the rules and principles that actually govern or regulate a society. Positivism insists on the separation of law and morality, and, as a result, focuses on describing laws without reference to justness or legitimacy.
"Legal Theory in Relation to Public Law," Craig Forcese et al in Public Law: Cases, Commentary and Analysis
intending to oppose natural law theory, [legal positivism] denies any ‘necessary connexion between law and morality’. Central theses among a loose cluster: (1) law is definable and explainable without evaluative predicates or presuppositions; (2) the law (e.g. of England now) is identifiable from exclusively factual sources (e.g. legislation, judicial precedents). Some versions deny that there is knowable moral truth. Most understand positive law as products of will, some as imperatives.”
“Legal Positivism,” John Finnis, in The Oxford Companion to Philosophy
Legal Positivism Key Books
The Concept of Law by Call Number: This is an unlimited user ebookPublication Date: 2012Fifty years on from its original publication, HLA Hart's The Concept of Law is widely recognized as the most important work of legal philosophy published in the twentieth century, and remains the starting point for most students coming to the subject for the first time.In this third edition, Leslie Green provides a new introduction that sets the book in the context of subsequent developments in social and political philosophy, clarifying misunderstandings of Hart's project and highlighting central tensions and problems in the work.
Inclusive Legal Positivism by Call Number: K331 .W35 1994ISBN: 0198258127Publication Date: 1994-06-23This book develops a general theory of law - inclusive legal positivism - which seeks to remain within the tradition represented by authors such as Austin, Hart, MacCormick, and Raz, while sharing some of the virtues of both classical and modern theories of natural law, as represented byauthors such as Aquinas, Fuller, Finnis, and Dworkin.
The Practice of Principle by Call Number: This is an unlimited user ebookISBN: 0199264120Publication Date: 2003-05-08Jules Coleman, one of the world's most influential philosophers of law here expounds his recent views on a range of important issues in legal theory. Coleman offers for the first time an explicit account of the pragmatist method that has long informed his work, and takes on the views of highlyrespected contemporaries such as Ronald Dworkin and Joseph Raz.
The Morality of Freedom by Call Number: This is an unlimited user ebookISBN: 0198247729Publication Date: 1986-07-24Ranging over central issues of morals and politics, this book discusses the nature of freedom and authority. It examines the roles of value-neutrality, rights, equality, and the prevention of harm in the liberal tradition, and relates them to fundamental moral questions.
Legal Positivism Key Articles
- Authority, Law and MoralityRaz, Joseph, “Authority, Law and Morality” (1985) 68:3 The Monist 295–322.
- On Hart's Way OutShapiro, Scott J, “On Hart’s Way out Special Issue: Postscript to H.L.A. Hart’s the Concept of Law, Part II” (1998) 4:4 LEG 469–508.
- Positivism and the Separation of Law and MoralsHart, H L A, “Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals” (1958) 71:4 Harvard Law Review 593–629.
Books of Commentary About Hart
Reflections on 'the Concept of Law' by Call Number: This is an unlimited user ebookISBN: 0199693323Publication Date: 2011-12-15HLA Hart's The Concept of Law is one of the most influential works of philosophy of the twentieth century, redefining the field of legal philosophy and introducing generations of students to philosophical reflection on the nature of law. In this book, renowned legal historian AWB Simpson attempts to sweep aside the volumes of academic criticism and return to 'Troy I', revealing the world of post-war Oxford that produced Hart and his famous book.
The Legacy of H. L. A. Hart by Call Number: This is an unlimited user ebook.ISBN: 9780199542895Publication Date: 2008-09-15This book is the product of a major British Academy Symposium held in 2007 to mark the centenary of the birth of H.L.A. Hart, one of the most important legal philosophers of the twentieth century.The book brings together contributions from eighteen of the world's foremost legal and political philosophers who explore the many subjects in which Hart produced influential work.
A Life of H. L. A. Hart by Call Number: This is an unlimited user ebookISBN: 9780199202775Publication Date: 2006-06-22Shortlisted for the 2005 British Academy Book prize, Nicola Lacey's entrancing biography recounts the life of H.L.A. Hart, a preeminent legal philosopher of the twentieth century.
The Hart-Fuller Debate in the Twenty-First Century by Call Number: This is a multi-user ebookISBN: 1847315658Publication Date: 2010-02-16This book presents the papers and comments on those papers delivered at a colloquium held at the Australian National University in December 2008 to celebrate 50 years since the publication in the Harvard Law Review of the famous and wide-ranging debate between HLA Hart and Lon L Fuller.
Hart, Fuller, and everything after: the politics of legal theory by ISBN: 9781509965212Publication Date: 2023
The Long Arc of Legality by ISBN: 9781009049054Publication Date: 2022-01-13David Dyzenhaus brings Thomas Hobbes and Hans Kelsen into a dialogue with H. L. A. Hart, showing that philosophy of law must work with the idea of legitimate authority and its basis in the social contract. He argues that the legality of international law and constitutional law are integral to the main tasks of philosophy of law, and that legal theory must attend both to the politics of legal space and to the way in which law provides us with a 'public conscience'.
