01:790:373 Lecture 2: The Concept of Law -- H.L.A. Hart
27 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Trained in both law and legal philosophy. Worked on publishing bentham and john austin. In uenced by the philosophy of ludwig wittgenstein: focus on the use of language. Famous debate with devlin on morals crimes (homosexuality, prostitution) Hart gives ve statements but labels them like great exaggerations of some truths about law unduly neglected, that cool de nitions : they don"t capture the characteristic that is shared by all legal systems. People know how to determine the laws, but they don"t know what is law. Law must have some relation to conduct that is obligatory. Law creates an obligation (out of fear) Behaving as a rule / a rule exists. A rule can be used as a guide or a justi cation: rules function as norms to be used as guides. You should do this and not do that .
