Legal Positivism and Real Entities

Abstract

Abstract In chapter 2 it is suggested that classical legal positivists (i.e. Jeremy Bentham and John Austin) fail to identify the ‘real entities’ that, supposedly, constitute law. It is suggested that this failure entails a demand for arguments supporting the description of the law given by them. Without such arguments the description is unconvincing. It is also suggested that utilitarian moral theory (and consequentialist moral theory in general) faces similar difficulties.