PATH OF LAW

ACCORDING TO HOLMES

WHO IS OLIVER HOMES?

He was an American realist, a Supreme Court judge in America for 30 years

a Civil War soldier, and a writer as he wrote this work entitled “Path of Law”. In
terms of his belief, he’s practical with his vision about law and other related
aspects.

WHAT IS LAW?
For him, law is a prophecy or a prediction of what courts will do in the
future, and how they make judgments of the people. Whether it is accurate or not,
law is about prediction.
Also, he stated that the law for the common man provides a socially
acceptable form of behavior to co-exist happily in society with fellow human
beings. It enables integration in society without necessarily using the premises of
the court.

WHAT IS PROPHECY?
It is a prediction of what is to come.

WHAT IS STUDYING LAW?

Studying it is studying a well-known profession and not a mystery. It’s a
calling of thinkers so studying it requires intellectual commitment.

WHAT IS LEGAL DUTY?

It was also a prophecy that if someone performs or doesn’t perform an
action, he would be subjected to unpleasant experiences through the judgment of
the court.

WHAT IS LEGAL RIGHTS?

He viewed it as different from our rights in moral sense. That the law or our
legal rights is limited by our moral values. For example we have the right to
property but it can be interfered by the state through eminent domain
DIFFERENCE BET LEGAL AND MORAL
As he said, “to get a cart before the horse” We are confused about what is
legal and what is moral, but then it was said that law should come first then second
is morality as law drives morality. So here, he stated that we should make
distinctions

Legal would be said as what the law says, but morality talks about what is
good and bad. Holmes wants it to be separated as moral terminology tends to
obscure its meaning and cause confusion as he stated that what may be morally
guarded may not be so legally.

But looking at it from the bad man’s perspective will help us to distinguish
the two

WHY BAD MAN WAS USED IN HIS THEORY

He stated that looking at a bad man’s perspective who doesn’t care about
morality but cares about how they will justify their ends, and how are they going to
predict how rules work in their favor will help us to distinguish the law and
morality.

HOW DID HE EXPLAINED LOGIC

He dismissed the idea that law is all about logic by stating that logic in legal
work cannot be worked out compared in mathematics and physics. With that, our
idea of law changes if the habits, manners, and ideas of our community change. So
it’s not fixed into logic.

Also, he stated that law besides logic is also influenced by the current
opinions biases, and habits of people

IMITATION IN CONNECTION WITH LAW

According to him, imitation is part of human nature but following the old
laws do more harm than good. So, laws should be updated to be useful and made
serve the ends of society in its present times.

IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY
According to him, it’s significant to know about the history but imitating it would
just do more harm than good as the law should reflect the current scenario of
society rather following the past for the sake of convenience
MESSAGE TO LAW STUDENTS
Studying it is studying a well-known profession and not a mystery. It’s a
calling of thinkers so studying it requires intellectual commitment.