Explaining the terms Law and Morality or "Justice".

When discussing law and morality or law and justice, it is important to define the terms, from the below you
will probably decide it is not possible to define what law IS, but it is possible to describe what it does and
what rules apply. This is essentially a philosophical question, which probably has no answer, but some
theorists have attempted to do so.

Similarly, there is no agreement what morality IS, or justice IS and there are various schools of thought.

We shall be looking at the writings and thoughts of philosophers and jurists (legal scholars) each named
person should be considered as an authority in his field whose opinions are worthy of respect.

What is Law?
It is possible to describe law as the body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions,
legislation, judicial opinions, and the like, that is used to govern a society and to control the behaviour of its
members, so Law is a formal mechanism of social control.
Legal systems are particular ways of establishing and maintaining social order.

Definition of law - Legal Positivism

John Austin (English jurist
born 1790)
"Province of Jurisprudence
Determined"
"A rule laid down for the guidance of an intelligent being by an intelligent being
having power over him."
"A body of rules fixed and enforced by a sovereign political authority."

Professor Hart Hart defined law as a system of rules, a union of primary and secondary rules,
(Oxford Professor of
jurisprudence, born 1907)
"The Concept of Law" (1961)

Definition of law - Marxist theory

Marxist theories of law generally define law as a tool of oppression used by

capitalists to control the proletariat.

Definition of law - Natural Law.

Plato (Greek philosopher An embodiment of Reason, whether in the individual or the community.
born 427 BC)
Aristotle (Greek philosopher
born 304 BC)

St Thomas Aquinas (Italian "Nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him
philosopher born 1224) who has care of the community, and promulgated"
"Summa Theologiae
(Summary of Theology)",
Question 90, Art. 4

Definition of law - Legal Realism

Oliver Wendell "The prophecies of what the courts will do ... are what I mean by the law,"
Holmes (American judge and
jurist born 1841)
"The Path of the Law" in
Collected Papers, 1920
The Jurist and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., was born in 1841.
Oliver W. Holmes Jr. died in 1935. For information, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (a Physician and Author) was born in
1809 and died in 1894.

Karl Llewellyn "What officials do about disputes,"

(American legal scholar born
1893)
"The Bramble Bush" 1951

Lord Browne- "The sum of the influences that determine decisions in courts of justice."
Wilkinson (Senior Law Lord
born 1930)

Other definitions

Definition of Law - Max "Lawexist if it is externally guaranteed by the probability of coercion (physical
Weber or psychological) to bring about conformity or avenge violation, and is applied
(German Sociologist born by a staff of people holding themselves specially ready for that purpose."
1954)

Definition of law - Thomas Hobbes said of the role and function of law in his polemic work Leviathan
Hobbes (1651)
(English philosopher born "Law is the formal glue that holds fundamentally disorganised societies
1588) together."

Definition of law - "Law is the cement of society and also an essential medium of change.
Glanville Williams Learning Knowledge of law increases ones understanding of public affairs. Its study
the law promotes accuracy of expression, facility in argument and skill in interpreting
the written word, as well as some understanding of social values".