Law and Philosophy 24 (3):239-262 (2004)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
It is often argued that the rule of law is only instrumentally morally valuable, valuable when and to the extent that a legal system is used to purse morally valuable ends. In this paper, I defend Lon Fuller’s view that the rule of law has conditional non-instrumental as well as instrumental moral value. I argue, along Fullerian lines, that the rule of law is conditionally non-instrumentally valuable in virtue of the way a legal system structures political relationships. The rule of law specifies a set of requirements which lawmakers must respect if they are to govern legally. As such, the rule of law restricts the illegal or extra-legal use of power. When a society rules by law, there are clear rules articulating the behavior appropriate for citizens and officials. Such rules ideally determine the particular contours political relationships will take. When the requirements of the rule of law are respected, the political relationships structured by the legal system constitutively express the moral values of reciprocity and respect for autonomy. The rule of law is instrumentally valuable, I argue, because in practice the rule of law limits the kind of injustice which governments pursue. There is in practice a deeper connection between ruling by law and the pursuit of moral ends than advocates of the standard view recognize. The next part of this paper outlines Lon Fuller’s conception of the rule of law and his explanation of its moral value. The third..
|
Keywords | Law Logic Philosophy of Law Law Theory/Law Philosophy Political Science Social Issues |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2005 |
DOI | 10.1007/s10982-004-7990-3 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Rhetoric and the Rule of Law.Neil MacCormick - 2001 - The Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 11:51-67.
Why Law — Efficacy, Freedom, or Fidelity?Jeremy Waldron - 1994 - Law and Philosophy 13 (3):259 - 284.
Citations of this work BETA
Fuller and the Folk: The Inner Morality of Law Revisited.Raff Donelson & Ivar R. Hannikainen - 2020 - In Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy, Volume 3. Oxford: pp. 6-28.
The Moral Grounds of Reasonably Mistaken Self-Defense.Renée Jorgensen Bolinger - 2021 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 103 (1):140-156.
Algorithms and the Individual in Criminal Law.Renée Jorgensen - forthcoming - Canadian Journal of Philosophy:1-17.
Refugee Rights: Against Expanding the Definition of a “Refugee” and Unilateral Protection Elsewhere.Max Cherem - 2016 - Journal of Political Philosophy 24 (2):183-205.
View all 19 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Political Reconciliation, the Rule of Law, and Genocide.Colleen Murphy - 2007 - The European Legacy 12 (7):853-865.
Hart and Raz on the Non-Instrumental Moral Value of the Rule of Law: A Reconsideration. [REVIEW]Mark J. Bennett - 2011 - Law and Philosophy 30 (5):603-635.
The Rules of Law in the Reform of Legal Education: Teaching the Legal Mind in Japanese Law Schools.James R. Maxeiner - unknown
Readings in the Philosophy of Law.John Arthur & William H. Shaw (eds.) - 1993 - Pearson Prentice Hall.
Is the Rule of Law Really Indifferent to Human Rights?Evan Fox-Decent - 2008 - Law and Philosophy 27 (6):533 - 581.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2009-01-28
Total views
135 ( #85,185 of 2,497,797 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #428,370 of 2,497,797 )
2009-01-28
Total views
135 ( #85,185 of 2,497,797 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #428,370 of 2,497,797 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads