Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 July 2015
One of the standard criticisms of John Austin’s work is that his portrayal of law, as essentially the command of a sovereign to its subjects, does not fit well with the way law is practiced or perceived by lawyers, judges, and citizens; and since the theory “fails to fit the facts,” Austin’s theory must be rejected in favor of later theories that have better fit. Many influential modern approaches to the nature of law, including Joseph Raz’s exclusive legal positivism and Ronald Dworkin’s interpretivism, while they criticize the lack of fit of theories like Austin’s, themselves unapologetically offer characterizations of legal practice that deviate in significant ways from the way most people practice or perceive law. Thus, it appears that many contemporary legal theorists wish to have it both ways: they use the deviations from conventional understandings as grounds for dismissing some theories by other scholars, but forgive or overlook comparable deviations in their own theories. This article explores what general principles can be learned, or developed, regarding when or to what extent deviation from the way law is practiced and perceived can be justified in a theory of the nature of law by other theoretical gains. Additionally, the article considers whether, in light of the proper approach to fit and mistake in theory-construction, Austin’s theory of law might be a more viable alternative than is conventionally assumed.
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5. Here, as elsewhere in this paper, the reference is to the English-language jurisprudence literature. I am well aware that the traditions and discussions in other jurisprudential literatures are quite different (starting from the fact that, in many other countries, Austin, along with Hart and Raz, may be relatively unknown, while more emphasis is given to Kelsen’s work).
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40. And, a similar debate goes on around economic theories of law, where the question is whether the rational actor model is a great insight around which to build a predictive model, or is instead a politically biased and empirically disproven misreading of human nature.
41. See Kuhn, supra note 38.
42. A point made by Raz, among others. See, e.g., Raz, supra note 8 at 3.