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2 - The Nature of Law

from Part I - General Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2020

By
John Finnis
Edited by
John Tasioulas
John Tasioulas
Affiliation:
King's College London
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Summary

Recent work in philosophy of law includes many discussions of law’s ‘nature or essence’, understood as those properties of law that are necessary, or at least important and typical or characteristic of ‘law as such, wherever it may be found’1 (or that help explain how and why law can be considered a kind, and laws or legal systems its instances or instantiations). Some hold that law has no nature; only natural objects have a nature, and law is artefactual, not natural. Others reply that there are kinds of artefacts: paper clips differ in nature from printer drivers, and being a soft cheese blob excludes being a paper clip – excludes being something of that kind or nature. Attention is shifting promisingly to paradigms of artefact more relevant to law than paper clips are: assertions, for example.2

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Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Law , pp. 38 - 58
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • The Nature of Law
  • Edited by John Tasioulas, King's College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Law
  • Online publication: 15 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316104439.003
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  • The Nature of Law
  • Edited by John Tasioulas, King's College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Law
  • Online publication: 15 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316104439.003
Available formats
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  • The Nature of Law
  • Edited by John Tasioulas, King's College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Law
  • Online publication: 15 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316104439.003
Available formats
×