'Legal Positivism' theory was developed by
- A.T.H. Green
- B.Thomas Hobbes
- C.John Austin
- D.Patrick Devlin
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, John Austin. The English jurist John Austin developed legal positivism, the view that law is the command of the sovereign backed by a sanction, kept separate from questions of morality.
In The Province of Jurisprudence Determined (1832), Austin, building on the ideas of Jeremy Bentham, defined law as a command issued by a sovereign whom the people habitually obey and who obeys no one else, enforced by the threat of punishment. For a positivist, a rule is law because it was laid down by the proper authority, not because it is just.
A is wrong because T.H. Green was an idealist philosopher who linked the state with the moral development of citizens, which is the opposite of separating law from morality. B is wrong because Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan, gave a social contract theory of the absolute sovereign; he influenced Austin but did not build legal positivism as a theory. D is wrong because Patrick Devlin argued that law should enforce society's shared morality, in his famous debate with Hart.
Exam tip: Austin's command theory is the classic statement of legal positivism.
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