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Full-Text Articles in Law
Legality, Morality, Duality, Joshua Davis
Legality, Morality, Duality, Joshua Davis
Joshua P. Davis
This Article proposes legal dualism as a novel resolution to one of the central debates in jurisprudence—that between natural law and legal positivism. It holds that the nature of law varies with the purpose for which it is being interpreted. Natural law provides the best account of the law when it serves as a source of moral guidance and legal positivism when it does not. The Article explores dualism by contrasting it with the defense of legal positivism in Scott Shapiro’s justly renowned book, LEGALITY. Shapiro offers arguably the most sophisticated defense of positivism to date. This Article argues that …
American Legal Realism And Practical Guidance, Joshua Davis, Manuel Vargas
American Legal Realism And Practical Guidance, Joshua Davis, Manuel Vargas
Joshua P. Davis
H.L.A. Hart’s well-known rejection of American Legal Realism turned in part on the idea that Realism lacked the resources to provide the sort of guidance that we might reasonably seek from a theory of law. Although Hart's criticisms were widely regarded as devastating, in recent years American Legal Realism has undergone something of a renaissance. The principal architect of that renaissance is Brian Leiter, who has re-established Realism as an important and even indispensable approach to jurisprudence. In this chapter, our aim is to show how, despite its considerable attractions, Leiter’s brand of Legal Realism appears to be in much …