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Legal Theory Lexicon

"All the concepts that fit."

Legal Theory Lexicon 068: Welfare, Well-Being, and HappinessMay 31

Introduction

Normative legal theory is concerned with the ends and justifications for the law as a whole and for particular legal rules.  Previous entries in the legal have examined exemplars of the three great traditions in normative theory--consequentialist, deontological, and aretaic (or virtue-centered) perspectives.  There are important differences between these three families of theories at a very general and abstract level: for example, deontologists emphasize rights and wrongs while consequentialists emphasize the goodness or badness of states of affairs.  And there are differences between particular theories within the broad families: within consequentialism, for example, welfarists emphasize preference satisfaction, whereas hedonistic utiliarians emphasize pleasure and pain.

Despite these disagreements, I think it is fair to say that many or most of the reasonable views about normative theory agree that what is good or bad for individual humans is morally salient.  Welfarists believe that humans are better off if their preferences are satisified.  Hedonistic utilitarians believe an individual is better off if she experiences more pleasure and less pain.  Aristotle believed that humans flourish if they live lifes of social and rational activity that expresses the human excellences or virtues under conditions of peace and prosperity.  A deontologist who believes that autonomy is the central value might believe that humans are better off if t

Legal Theory Lexicon 067: The Priority of the ParticularMarch 9

Introduction

One kind of legal theory attempts to relate the mass of legal materials (cases, clauses, statutes, etc.) to a systematic set of principles.  Such theories may be normative: that is, some legal theories are frameworks for the prescriptive evaluation of legal rules.  Or the theory might be doctrinal: some legal theories attempt to describe the results in particular cases through the articulation of a set of general rules or principles.  Finally, there are legal theories that combine the normative and the descriptive: Dworkin's interpretive theory of law aims at producing a general theory of law that best "fits" and "justifies" the legal materials.  In each of these three cases, there is a metatheoretical question: what role do particulars (e.g., judgments about or the outcomes of individual cases) play in relationship to the more abstract, general, and universal propositions that make up the theory?

This entry in the Legal Theory Lexicon examines "particularism"--the general view that particulars have priority over the general (or universal) in positive and/or normative legal theory.  As always, the Lexicon is written for law students, especially first year law students with an interest in legal theory.

The Basic Idea

Simplifying greatly, we can imagine two different relationships between the particular and the general in legal theory.  First, we might think that general propositions have priority, and that recalci

Legal Theory Lexicon 066: BaselinesMay 25 2008

Introduction

Most undergraduates are likely to become acquainted with John Stuart Mill's famous harm principle at some point.  Here is how he stated the principle in On Liberty:

The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise, or even right... The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.

The harm

Legal Theory Lexicon 065: The Nature of LawMay 11 2008

Introduction

What is the nature of law?  This question has occupired center stage jurisprudence and philosophy of law in the modern era, and has been the central occupation of contemporary analytic jurispurdence.  This entry in the Legal Theory Lexicon aims to give an overview of the "What is Law?" debate.

Historically, the answer to the question, "What is law?," is thought to have two competing answers.  The classical answer is provided by natural law theory, which is frequently characterized as asserting that there is an essential relationship between law and morality or justice.  The modern answer is provided by legal positivisim, which, as developed by John Austin, asserted that law is the command of the sovereign backed by the threat of punishment.

Contemporary debates over the nature of law focus on a revised set of positions.  Legal positivism is represented by analytic legal positivists, like H.L.A. Hart, Joseph Raz, and Jules Coleman.  The natural law tradition is defended by John Finnis.  And a new positition, interpretivism is represented by Ronald Dworkin.

In some ways, the title of this Lexicon entry is misleading, because of our focus on the "What is law?" question as it has been approached by contemporary legal philosophers.  There are other important perspectives on the nature of law that focus on law's functions rather than the the meaning of the concept or the criteria of legal validity.  For example, the sociologi

Legal Theory Lexicon 064: Possibility and NecessityMay 3 2008

Introduction

What policy choices are feasible and which options are "pie in the sky," "utopian," or "politically impossible"?  What is "necessary" and what is merely "probable"?  The Legal Theory Lexicon includes two entries that deal with aspects of these questons Legal Theory Lexicon 011: Second Best and Legal Theory Lexicon 062: Path Dependency.  In this post, we will investigate the concepts of "possibility" and "necessity."  These ideas are ubiquitious in theoretical discourse, but they are rarely defined or explicated.  One way to get clear about possibility and necessity is via the power philosophical idea of a possible world, made famous by Leibniz and deployed in contemporary metaphysics by Saul Kripke and others.

As always, the Legal Theory Lexicon is aimed at law students, especially first year law students with an interest in legal theory.  Although "possible worlds" talk may sound complex, the core ideas and terminology can easily be mastered.

Modality

Before proceeding any further, we need to introduce an important term, the adjective "modal" and its noun form "modality."  These words are probably unfamiliar to anyone who wasn't a philosophy major, but you may dimly recall that "coul