Philosophy of Law

Natural law theorists argue that law is necessarily moral; legal positivists argue that it is not. Write a four-paragraph essay on whether law is necessarily moral.

The structure of this assignment is the following:

If you want to argue that law is necessarily moral:
Paragraph 1: Legal positivists argue that law is not necessarily moral because
Paragraph 2: I say that law is necessarily moral because
Paragraph 3: One might object that
Paragraph 4: I reply that

If you want to argue that law is not necessarily moral:
Paragraph 1: Natural law theorists argue that law is necessarily moral because
Paragraph 2: I say that law is not necessarily moral because
Paragraph 3: One might object that
Paragraph 4: I reply that

Notes:
(i) The format of this assignment is essentially the same as the last one, except that it is expanded from four sentences to four paragraphs. You need to elaborate the arguments in greater detail, but you still need to write concisely.

(ii) Word limit: 400 words. There will be a mark penalty if you go over 450.

(iii) Include a word count.

(iv) Please draw upon at least one author that we have discussed, e.g. Aquinas, Murphy, Austin, Hart, Fuller.

(v) Make sure that the argument in paragraph 1 is contrary to that in paragraph 2, your objection in paragraph 3 is indeed an objection against the argument in paragraph 2, your reply in paragraph 4 is indeed a reply to the objection in paragraph 3.

(vi) Write clearly and comprehensibly. Your assignment will be assessed partly based on clarity and comprehensibility.