Inclusive Legal Positivism

This book develops a general theory of law DS inclusive legal positivism DS which seeks to remain within the tradition represented by authors such as Austin, Hart, MacCormick, and Raz, while sharing some of the virtues of both classical and modern theories of natural law, as represented byauthors such as Aquinas, Fuller, Finnis, and Dworkin. W. J. Walchow articulates and defends his own version of legal positivism, which is a refinement and development of the views of H. L. A. Hart. The author shows how inclusive legal positivism demonstrates that the existence or content of positivelaw does depend on moral considerations; and that this is consistent with legal positivism. In addition, Waluchow helps to remove the confusion which has marred current jurisprudential debates about the nature of law. He argues that these debates are often clouded by failures to appreciate that different theorists are offering different kinds of theories and attempting to answer differentquestions. He also accuses theorists, principally Ronald Dworkin, of failing to characterize opposing theories correctly.

Wil Waluchow is Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.