PHL271H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Liberal Democracy, Harm Principle, Legal Positivism
Document Summary
Hart thinks there are certain advantages to the law through positivism: steering between the dangers of the reactionary and the anarchist with positivism, legal and moral force of law are differentiated. A law can be legally binding but this does not settle whether it entails a moral obligation to obey. Gives us a more accurate pictures of what judges really do (core v. penumbra) As judges adjudicate different cases to do with a particular law, more and more cases become part of the core. Think of rules as binding and definitive of what makes something a law binding. Does this capture laws claim to legitimate authority: this was not harts main question but it is dworkin"s. Part of a different tradition than hart (the natural law tradition) Natural law theories have a long academic history, assuming that there is an objective moral truth that grounds our legal systems.
