Essay “What is law?” Natural Law and the Definition of “Law”
I. Introduction to Legal Positivism
Positivism is from the Latin root positus, which means to posit, postulate, or firmly affix the existence of something. Legal positivism is a school of jurisprudence whose advocates believe that the only legitimate sources of law are those written rules, regulations, and principles that have been expressly enacted, adopted, or recognized by a governmental entity or political institution, including administrative, executive, legislative, and judicial bodies. The basic question to be asked when talking about this theory is “What is law?” Is it written? Where does it come from? Legal positivism is a theory which answers these questions. [1]
Legal positivism is the legal philosophy which argues that any and all laws are nothing more and nothing less than simply the expression of the will of whatever authority created them. Thus, no laws can be regarded as expressions of higher morality or highe...