Leff to Right

Abstract

In 1979, Arthur Allen Leff wrote a law review article in the Duke Law Journal entitled, Unspeakable Ethics, Unnatural Law, where he unveiled the normative abyss of modern jurisprudence. Rather simplistically, Leff struck down every normative claim that the law might impose with a two-word punch: says who? By this, Leff indirectly exposed the hazards of a human grounded legal system, a law grounded exclusively in power and coercion, not liberty and justice for all. The trouble with normative jurisprudence, as awakened by Leff, is not primarily an issue of locating a normative object (i.e., a law that ought to be obeyed), but locating a normative subject (i.e., someone capable of declaring law that ought to be obeyed). This struggle comes together in Leff's apex question: “Who among us ought to be able to declare law that ought to be obeyed? Because of his convictions about the universe, Leff could not provide answers to the questions at which he so thoughtfully raised. But with different convictions, Leff's questions seem to find their answer.