Historical Origins of Raz’s Legal Philosophy

Abstract

Joseph Raz (1939–2022) was one of the most influential philosophers of law of the last half century. But the reception of his legal philosophy was shaped by relatively nar- row debates about the nature of authority and the commitments of Hartian legal posi- tivism. A more comprehensive assessment of his achievements begins by considering the complex historical origins of his legal philosophy. I consider three distinct historical strands relevant to understanding many of the central features and the general frame- work of his philosophy of law: developments in moral, political, and legal philosophy regarding the concept of a reason for action, of the nature of political authority, and the systemic character of positive law, respectively, in the mid-twentieth century. Raz’s legal philosophy can profitably be viewed as a novel convergence and synthesis of these many developments and influences, as an ambitious attempt to develop a systemic the- ory of positive law in terms of the concept of authority which is in turn explained from the perspective of practical reason.