Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 31 (3):481-501 (2011)
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Abstract |
The idea that law claims authority (LCA) has recently been forcefully criticized by a number of authors. These authors present a new and intriguing objection, arguing that law cannot be said to claim authority if such a claim is not justified. That is, these authors argue that the view that law does not have authority viciously conflicts with the view that law claims authority. I will call this the normative critique of LCA. In this article, I assess the normative critique of LCA, focusing predominantly on the arguments presented by its most incisive proponent Philip Soper. I defend a twofold conclusion. First, LCA, understood roughly along the lines put forward by Joseph Raz, is part of the most attractive analysis of law. Second, proponents of the normative critique, and in particular Soper, are committed to accepting LCA.
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Keywords | Law's claim to authority Authority Jurisprudence Soper Natural law Legal positivism Political obligation |
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DOI | 10.1093/ojls/gqr013 |
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References found in this work BETA
Hart on Moral Rights and Legal Duties.J. Raz - 1984 - Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 4 (1):123-131.
Citations of this work BETA
Coordination Cannot Establish Political Authority.Matthias Brinkmann - 2018 - Ratio Juris 31 (1):49-69.
A Pragmatic Reconstruction of Law’s Claim to Authority.Horacio Spector - 2019 - Ratio Juris 32 (1):21-48.
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2011-07-07
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1,662 ( #2,845 of 2,498,183 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
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