Legal Positivism

5 main views
• Hart’s important essay, “Positivism and the Separation
of Law and Morals”.
• Five main views that are generally associated with
legal positivism:
– Laws are commands of human being
– There is no necessary connection between law and morals
– The analysis of legal concepts is
• (i) worth pursuing,
• (ii) distinct from (though not hostile to) sociological and historical
enquiries and critical evaluation
A legal system is a “closed logical system” in which correct decisions
may be deduced from predetermined legal rules by logical means
alone
– A legal system is a “closed logical system” in which
correct decisions may be deduced from
predetermined legal rules by logical means alone
– Moral judgments cannot be established, as
statement of fact can, by rational argument,
evidence, or proof (this is known as “non-
cognitivism in ethics”)