Scott Shapiro, an exclusive legal positivist, argues that inclusive legal positivism is inconsistent with the view that legal norms must conceptually provide reasons for agents of a legal system to act in specified ways. I defend inclusive legal positivism from Shapiro's charge of inconsistency.

Criminology and legal philosophy still have much to gain from the exchange of ideas. However, attention must be paid to how this exchange is being made and what is being transferred. This project attempts to examine a currently unacknowledged exchange between the disciplines; that of an historicist, logos-centric method of knowledge production. Specifically, using a refashioned dialectic method, the debate between H.L.A. Hart and Lon L. Fuller will be compared and contrasted with Robert Agnew’s representation of criminology. This will give some clarity to the different ways by which the disciplines (re)produce knowledge. Importantly, the process of (re)production detailed here is characterized by a (dis)unity between how the disciplines rhetorically justify their methodology and the actual analyses being produced. To give this process colour, it will be examined in relation to criminology’s crisis. Ultimately, the analysis presented here raises doubts about the truthfulness of legal philosophical and criminological knowledge produced in this way.

This thesis addresses the historic debate between natural law theorists and positivists. After providing a foundation for the debate by discussing the thirteenth century natural law theory of St. Thomas Aquinas and the criticisms of it by positivist philosopher John Austin, this thesis turns to the theory of H.L.A. Hart. My primary aim is to outline a defense of the soft positivism of H.L.A. Hart in face of the criticisms of Ronald Dworkin by appealing to two nonexclusive roots of moral principles in the law: justice and criminal law.

<p>This dissertation offers a critical analysis of the dominant philosophical theory of law today: Hartian positivism. The arguments proffered are not meant to strike at the underlying methodology of that account. Rather, they are intended to demonstrate that it performs sub-optimally with regard to its own jurisprudential aspirations. More specifically, this thesis contends that the Hartian position is unable to model the law in a way that captures the de facto terms of institutional governance, while also being able to give due theoretical credence to the normative structures and mechanisms that are widely deployed to regulate it. With this conclusion in hand, a new theory of law is suggested – one that seeks to stay true to the methods and aspirations of its predecessor, but which has been constructed so as to surpass its descriptive-explanatory capabilities. In this way, the following dissertation means to push analytic jurisprudence beyond the Hartian pale, and into new areas of theoretical discourse.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

A presente dissertação de mestrado tenta estabelecer como e em qual medida o Conceito de Direito de Herbert Hart é influenciado por teorias da linguagem do século XX. Com este objetivo, são primeiro analisadas as passagens do livro e as considerações do autor que indicam uma influência de teses próprias da filosofia da linguagem em sua obra. Após, são expostas algumas intepretações do tema, tanto no sentido de concordar que existe esta relação entre as teses de Hart e a filosofia da linguagem do século 20, quanto no sentido de negar este vínculo. Especial atenção é atribuída a interpretação de Ronald Dworkin do tema, tendo em vista a sua relevância histórica e o fato do autor reconhecer a vinculação referida e a utilizá-la como base para críticas das teses do Conceito de direito. Estabelecidas estas interpretações divergentes, são então expostas as principais ideias e propostas dos filósofos da linguagem do ambiente acadêmico de Oxford, tendo em vista a relação e proximidade de Hart a estes autores. Expostas estas teses, diferentes pontos da carreira bibliográfica de Hart são analisados, com o objetivo de traçar a relação dos escritos do autor com as teorias recém vistas e de tentar estabelecer a evolução da linha argumentativa que culminou no Conceito de Direito. Uma vez que os argumentos dessa obra forem analisados e um entendimento específico dessas teses for defendido, as críticas de Dworkin e de outros autores são revistas. Este exercício, por fim, mostra como o entendimento defendido neste trabalho serve também como defesa contra algumas caracterizações da obra de Hart que considero equivocadas. / The main goal of this paper is to establish to what extent the work “The Concept of Law” was influenced by philosophical theories of language from the 20th century. First are considered some passages of this work, together with some pronouncements of its author Herbert Hart that appear to confirm that his theses were so influenced. Then are shown some interpretations that recognize the influence between the author and theses from the philosophy of language, together with other interpretations that deny this relationship. Special attention is given to the perception of Ronald Dworkin of the subject given its historical relevance and the fact that it recognize a relationship between these theses and uses it as basis for criticism of the arguments expressed in The Concept of Law. Once these distinctive interpretations are stablished, the main ideas and goals of the Oxford language philosophers, given their relationship and proximity to Hart, are exposed. Once these theses are dealt with, varied moments of the bibliography of Herbert Hart are considered in order to show the connection between his works and the language theses here exposed. After these point are considered and a distinct understanding of the subject is developed the criticism of Dworkin and other authors are retaken. This last point aims to show how the understanding developed in this paper also develops a defense of Hart’s theory from some mischaracterizations of his work.