LAWS 3908 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Lon L. Fuller, Harvard Law Review, H. L. A. Hart

180 views5 pages
22 May 2018
Department
Course
Professor
LAWS 3908A - Approaches in Legal Studies
2018-02-01
Introducing Modern Natural Law Theory
Themes uniting classical and modern natural law theories:
- Natural is universal, absolute, objective and transcends context
- The validity of any law depends on not just on its form but on its content
- Natural law is superior to human law/positivist law
- Integral relationship between law and morality
Modern natural law theory argues that morality and justice come from human actin not
from abstract moral principles
- 2 influential modern natural law theorists are Lon Fuller ad John Finnis
o They view law as an ordering, rule-driven and morally defensible process
o Fuller: law must reflect a minimal ‘internal morality
o Finnis: law serves as a set of basic morals that enable human beings to flourish
Lon Fuller: Lawmaking as a craft
Fuller Bio:
- Lon Fuller (June 15th, 1902 April 8th, 1978
- Important legal philosopher, who defended a secular and procedural form of natural law
theory
- Professor of Law at Harvard University
- One of the most important American legal theorists of the last 100 years
- Engaged in a famous debate in 1958 with the prominent British legal philosopher H.L.A.
Hart in the Harvard Law Review journal
- Most popular book is called The Morality of Law published in 1964
Fuller focused on the rational dimensions of lawmaking as a craft
- The craft of lawmaking has a unique ‘internal morality’ that allows humans to identify it
as a legitimate law
Defined Law as “the enterprise of subjecting human conduct to the governance of rules”
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Unlock document

This preview shows pages 1-2 of the document.
Unlock all 5 pages and 3 million more documents.

Already have an account? Log in
Lon Fuller: The ‘Internal Morality’ of Law
To be considered valid law, lawmaking must adhere to an ‘internal morality’
King Rex’s 8 failures in crafting natural laws
1. King Rex does not manage to formulate general rules, so his decisions are always smade
on an ad hoc basis;
2. He fails to inform subjects of the rules that apply to them
3. He uses to retroactive legislation that not only fails to guide action, but undercuts the
integrity of rules prospective in effect, since it puts them under threat of retrospective
change
4. His rules are not understood by subjects
5. He enacts contradictory rules
6. His rules require subjects to behave in ways that are beyond their powers
7. The rules are changed frequently, so subjects are not able to orientate their conduct
8. The king fails to align the rules that are announced with their administration in reality
Valid law which has internal morality, consists of the opposites of King Rex’s lawmaking
- Laws need to have: Generality, Promulgation, Non-retroactivity, Clarity, Non-
contradiction, Possibility of compliance, Consistency, Congruence between declared rule
and official action.
John Finnis Law and Flourishing Human Life
- John Finnis (born 28 July, 1940) is a legal philosopher, jurist and scholar specializing in
jurisprudence and the philosophy of law
o Professor of Law & Legal Philosophy at Oxford University from 1989 to 2010
o Currently a Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School
- Focus is in the areas of jurisprudence, political theory, and constitutional law
- Finnis’ natural law theory returns to and is a revision of the classical natural law
approaches of Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle
Practical Reasoning is an objective (not natural) way to reveal moral conduct
- Grounded on a human ‘moral substratum’ via intuitive methods
John Finnis: Aspects of Flourishment, Community and Law
- 7 basic aspects of our well-being and flourishment
1. The valuing and transmission of life (procreation)
2. Knowledge for its own self (not as means to an end)
3. Play (leisure
4. Aesthetic experience (art)
5. Sociability and friendship
6. Practical reasonableness
7. Religion or the value of spiritual experience
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Unlock document

This preview shows pages 1-2 of the document.
Unlock all 5 pages and 3 million more documents.

Already have an account? Log in

Document Summary

Themes uniting classical and modern natural law theories: Natural is universal, absolute, objective and transcends context. The validity of any law depends on not just on its form but on its content. Natural law is superior to human law/positivist law. Modern natural law theory argues that morality and justice come from human actin not from abstract moral principles. Lon fuller (june 15th, 1902 april 8th, 1978. Important legal philosopher, who defended a secular and procedural form of natural law theory. One of the most important american legal theorists of the last 100 years. Engaged in a famous debate in 1958 with the prominent british legal philosopher h. l. a. Most popular book is called the morality of law published in 1964. Fuller focused on the rational dimensions of lawmaking as a craft. The craft of lawmaking has a unique internal morality" that allows humans to identify it as a legitimate law.

Get access

Grade+20% off
$8 USD/m$10 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Grade+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
40 Verified Answers
Class+
$8 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Class+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
30 Verified Answers

Related Documents