Fuller’s perception of law as a moral enterprise, demands that a system adhere to the eight desiderata , he calls “the inner morality of law.” Despite being “a procedural version of natural law,” indifferent to laws substantive morality, Fuller argues that for externally moral law to exist, fulfilment of the inner morality, expressed by principles of procedural justice, is required, since the internal and external moralities of law, “reciprocally influence one another.”
In an attempt to prove that the desiderata are intrinsically moral and that ‘wicked laws can destroy a legal system’, Fuller invokes upon the moral values enshrined within law itself.
Declaring law to be a “purposeful enterprise” subjecting humanity to the control of rules, law produces social order which involves respecting human autonomy and commitment to the view of man as a “responsible agent” able to abide by rules; A legislator embracing this view will refrain from insulting human dignity by departing from these principles. Even if we just want law as order, rather than law as good order, there is a ‘morality of order’ which must be met, or else legal order would not be possible.
Portraying law as a reciprocal affair involving a governmental command to the citizens and a governmental commitment to judge citizens according to these rules, loyalty to the precepts ensures that the duties imposed are that to which citizens will be held accountable. Increasing the law’s legitimacy in the population’s eyes, the principles guarantee that the law can be followed, reducing the possibility of sanction for a breach the subject was oblivious to. Providing “dependable guideposts for self-directed action,” and a legal system of fair opportunity, the Ful...
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...ns’ dignity, as evidence of the legal commands entailing a respect for the individual’s capacity for autonomous decision making. Nevertheless, to say that commands constitute a moral respect for its subjects is to suggest that a burglar’s instruction to his victim, to decide whether to obey or be shot, constitutes acknowledgment of his autonomy. “Rules can be general whilst choking the liberty of the people subject to them,” and therefore Fuller’s notion of law as a moral enterprise, pursuing moral ends is questionable.
When faced with Positivist criticism, the supposition that ‘wicked laws can destroy a legal system,’ is difficult to pledge allegiance to. Fuller’s inability to defend his position convincingly, renders it deserving of condemnation as an “untenable doctrine,” incorrect in its claim that systems of ‘moral turpitude’ have no legal system at all.
...are confronted with the question of moral absolutes, we are forced to wonder when and to whom justice truly applies. Hopefully, we will look at our world and our ideas of right, wrong and retribution in different ways, ways that will enlighten and enrich our lives, and the those of the an audience of readers 2,000 years from now.
Plato’s Republic focuses on one particular question: is it better to be just or unjust? Thrasymachus introduces this question in book I by suggesting that justice is established as an advantage to the stronger, who may act unjustly, so that the weak will “act justly” by serving in their interests. Therefore, he claims that justice is “stronger, freer, and more masterly than justice” (Plato, Republic 344c). Plato begins to argue that injustice is never more profitable to a person than justice and Thrasymachus withdraws from the argument, granting Plato’s response. Glaucon, however, is not satisfied and proposes a challenge to Plato to prove that justice is intrinsically valuable and that living a just life is always superior. This paper will explain Glaucon’s challenge to Plato regarding the value of justice, followed by Plato’s response in which he argues that his theory of justice, explained by three parts of the soul, proves the intrinsic value of justice and that a just life is preeminent. Finally, it will be shown that Plato’s response succeeds in answering Glaucon’s challenge.
The individuals within our society have allowed we the people to assess and measure the level of focus and implementation of our justice system to remedy the modern day crime which conflict with the very existence of our social order. Enlightening us to the devices that will further, establish the order of our society, resides in our ability to observe the Individual’s rights for public order.
Law has no existence for itself; rather its essence lies, from a certain perspective, in the very life of men.
In every society around the world, the law is affecting everyone since it shapes the behavior and sense of right and wrong for every citizen in society. Laws are meant to control a society’s behavior by outlining the accepted forms of conduct. The law is designed as a neutral aspect existent to solve society’s problems, a system specially designed to provide people with peace and order. The legal system runs more efficiently when people understand the laws they are intended to follow along with their legal rights and responsibilities.
Culver, Keith Charles. Readings in the philosophy of law. 1999. Reprint. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2008. Print.
(7) H. L., Hart, The Concept of Law, ch. VIII, and D., Lyons, Ethics and the rule of law, Cambridge University Press, 1989, p. 78 ff,
Within two classical works of philosophical literature, notions of justice are presented plainly. Plato’s The Republic and Sophocles’ Antigone both address elements of death, tyranny and immorality, morality, and societal roles. These topics are important elements when addressing justice, whether in the societal representation or personal representation.
In David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature, he divides the virtues of human beings into two types: natural and artificial. He argues that laws are artificial and a human invention. Therefore, he makes the point that justice is an artificial virtue instead of a natural virtue. He believed that human beings are moral by nature – they were born with some sense of morality and that in order to understand our “moral conceptions,” studying human psychology is the key (Moehler). In this paper, I will argue for Hume’s distinction between the natural and artificial virtues.
"The business of the law is to make sense of the confusion of what we call human life-to reduce it to order but at the same time to give it possibility, scope, even dignity."
Durkheim sees the role of law and punishment to be important for the solidarity of society as a whole. (Ibid., p81) Here, society has a...
Law is the foundation of central structures of social life on which society’s integrity depends, which is why Petrazycki, Ehrlich and Habermas perceive it to be a key steering mechanism in society,
For Plato’s thesis – justice pays – to be validated, he has to prove two things, the first being that justice is inherently good. In
To escape from the experience of King Rex, Fuller asserts that governance by the law is a practical art and human activity, and therefore he proposes that all the processes of lawmaking, law administrating and judging shall involve developing the skills for that practical art. This craft or art is embodied in corresponding to the eight principles or desiderata of legality as a part of legal processes. Fuller spends considerable space in The Morality of Law and elsewhere fleshing out the content of each of these principles of legality. By setting these principles out explicitly, Fuller hopes to bring to the surface the key elements of legality that are often passed over in accounts of law as too obvious to warrant comment, and which are thereby systematically neglected in jurisprudence. This task is important because it
“Bad men”, Holmes argued in his speech “care little for ethics or lofty conceptions of natural law. For the bad man, "legal duty" signifies only "a prophecy that if he does certain things he will be subjected to disagreeable consequences by way of imprisonment or compulsory payment.” Therefore, in Holmes' mind it was useful to define the law as a prediction of what will bring punishment from a court. (Holmes, O.