I.

Introduction
A. Background of Philosophy of Law
Philosophy of law has been defined as the formulation of concepts and
theories to aid in understanding the nature of law, the sources of its authority, and
its role in society1 It has also been defined as such:
Philosophy of law (or legal philosophy) is concerned with providing a
general philosophical analysis of law and legal institutions. Issues in
the field range from abstract conceptual questions about the nature of
law and legal systems to normative questions about the relationship
between law and morality and the justification for various legal
institutions.2
The article, The Nature of Law3 discussed Philosophy of Law thus:
..philosophy of law is interested in the general question: What is Law?
This general question about the nature of law presupposes that law is
a unique social-political phenomenon, with more or less universal
characteristics that can be discerned through philosophical analysis.
B. Who is Joseph Raz?
Joseph Raz was born in Mandate, Palestine, on March 21, 1939. He is a legal, moral
and political philosopher that has come to be one of the most prominent living
advocates of legal positivism. His career has mostly been as a professor of
philosophy of law and as a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford while simultaneously
practicing as a professor of law at Columbia University Law School. 4
1. Education

1 Stone, J., Philosophy of Law. (2015). In Encyclopdia Britannica,

http://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-law, (last accessed September 6, 2015)

2 Philosophy of Law, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/law-phil/, (last

accessed September 6, 2015).

3 Marmor, Andrei and Sarch, Alexander, The Nature of Law, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(Fall 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/lawphil-nature/, (last
accessed September 6, 2015).

4 Joseph Raz, http://www.paperbackswap.com/Joseph-Raz/author/, (last accessed September 6, 2015).

For his education, Joseph Raz attended the Hebrew University, in Jerusalem, Israel.
In 1963, Raz graduated summa cum laude with a Magister Juris (Master of
Jurisprudence). He then pursued a Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil) at Oxford University
under the supervision of H. L. A. Hart, and through the funding provided by the
Hebrew University. Raz also studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was
awarded with his Ph.D. in 1967. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the
Catholic University of Brussels in 1993.5

2. Works
Joseph Raz, as a pupil of H. L. A. Hart, has been important in continuing Hart's
arguments of legal positivism since Hart's death. Raz is regarded as one of the
most important living legal philosophers, and his work has been cited by the
Supreme Court of Canada in their jurisprudence. 6
Raz is currently a Professor of Philosophy of Law and a Fellow of Balliol College,
Oxford University.7 He is also a treasured professor at the Columbia Law School,
where he is best known for conducting Problems in Legal Philosophy seminars.8
Raz has thus far completed ten books, namely, The Concept of a Legal System
(1970), Practical Reason and Norms (1975), The Authority of Law (1979), The
Morality of Freedom (1986), Authority (1990), Ethics if the Public Domain (1994),
Engaging Reason (1999), Value, Respect and Attachment (2001), The Practice of
Value (2003), and the most recent one, From Normativity to Responsibility (2012).9
3. Legal Positivism

5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Legal Philosopher Joseph Raz: An Engaging and Demanding Thinker, Columbia Law School
Professor's New Book, From Normativity to Responsibility, Analyzes Moral, Legal, and Critical Norms,
Columbia Law School,
https://www.law.columbia.edu/media_inquiries/news_events/2012/january2012/joseph-raz-legalphilosopher, (last accessed September 6, 2015).

9 Ibid.

Legal Positivism is one of the most influential schools of thought under Philosophy of
Law. It delves into the basis of the construction of laws, in relation to the social
norms that are in place. The school has been discussed as such:
Legal positivism is a philosophy of law that emphasizes the
conventional nature of lawthat it is socially constructed. According to
legal positivism, law is synonymous with positive norms, that is, norms
made by the legislator or considered as common law or case law.
Formal criteria of laws origin, law enforcement and legal effectiveness
are all sufficient for social norms to be considered law. Legal
positivism does not base law on divine commandments, reason, or
human rights. As a historical matter, positivism arose in opposition to
classical natural law theory, according to which there are necessary
moral constraints on the content of law.

Legal positivism does not imply an ethical justification for the

content of the law, nor a decision for or against the obedience to law.
Positivists do not judge laws by questions of justice or humanity, but
merely by the ways in which the laws have been created. This includes
the view that judges make new law in deciding cases not falling clearly
under a legal rule. Practicing, deciding or tolerating certain practices of
law can each be considered a way of creating law. 10

Legal Positivism is said to have quite a history. There are those like Leslie Green
(2003), who have said to have found that the term legal positivism had already
been introduced in medieval legal thought, citing Finnis (1996) as the source of that
claim. 11
However, some claim that what Finnis had discussed was not legal
positivism, but positive law, negating the existence of Legal Positivism was brought
about by its proponents. 12 Both claims, however, correspond in that the dominating
figures in the formulation of the contemporary Legal Positivism are the Austrian
10 Legal Positivism, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/legalpos/, (last
accessed September 6, 2015).

11 Green, Leslie, "Legal Positivism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2009 Edition),
Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/legal-positivism/, (last accessed September 6,
2015)

12 James B. Murphy, Legal Positivism and Natural Law Theory (2011), Dartmouth College, The
Witherspoon Institute, http://www.nlnrac.org/critics/legal-positivism, (last accessed September 6,
2015).

jurist Hans Kelsen (1881-1973) and the respected figures in the analytic philosophy
of law, H.L.A. Hart (1907-92) and Joseph Raz.