Redrawing the Dividing Lines Between Natural Law and Positivism(s): A Commentary on Priel’s “Toward Classical Legal Positivism”

Article — Volume 101, Issue 4

101 Va. L. Rev. 1023
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Anglo-American jurisprudence, before it insulated itself in conceptual analysis and defined itself in opposition to broader questions, was properly a “sociable science,” to use Professor Postema’s phrase from his symposium article. And, in part due to the exemplars of history, so it may become again. By drawing on Bentham and Hobbes, Professor Dan Priel’s Toward Classical Positivism points forward toward more fruitful methods of jurisprudence while illuminating the recent history and current state of inquiry. His article demonstrates the virtues and promise of a more catholic approach to jurisprudence. It also raises challenging questions about the direction to take this rediscovered path, and I am not sure I always agree with his suggested answers. Any misgivings I have about Priel’s particular approach, however, do not diminish my appreciation; I find even the points of disagreement to be live and meaningful, and that itself is refreshing.

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  Volume 101 / Issue 4  

Jurisprudence and (Its) History

By Charles Barzun and Dan Priel
101 Va. L. Rev. 849

Jurisprudence, the Sociable Science

By Gerald J. Postema
101 Va. L. Rev. 869

Time-Mindedness and Jurisprudence: A Commentary on Postema’s “Jurisprudence, the Sociable Science”

By David Luban
101 Va. L. Rev. 903

Jurisprudence, History, and the Institutional Quality of Law

By Nicola Lacey
101 Va. L. Rev. 919