PHL271H1 Lecture : PHL271 Lecture Notes.pdf
Document Summary
Assumes there is something called law - assumes canadian law", american law", russian law" is all talking about the same" thing. Law contains/has what philosophers call normative aspect; normative statements refer to how things ought to be (descriptive - what things are). It tells us what we ought to do. It"s a social fact that gives us reasons for action (tell us what to do). What is law is a question about the relationship between moral obligation and social practice. Legal positivism v. natural law theorists - positive law v. natural law. Positive law is law that is positive, the law in the books, manmade statutory law, passed by parliament. It"s contrasted sometimes with natural law (if there is such thing) - universal law that is known to humans by reason (think about basic human rights). Purely descriptive answer to the question what is law?".
