Legal Normativity as a Moral Property

MARÍA CRISTINA REDONDO

Revus

Klub Revus

Lugar: Luibiana; Año: 2019 p. 57 - 68

1855-7112

This paper presents a comment on Brian Bix´s article ´Kelsen, Hart, and Legal Normativity´. It provides some remarks regarding the concept of normativity and subscribes to the idea that it should not be reduced to an empirical nor a moral property. The discussion is primarily focused on the post-Hartian thesis that, under the ideal of the unity of practical reasoning, accepts only one kind of genuine normativity: moral normativity. In this regard, on the one hand, it advances a criticism of Bix's analysis, which at first glance rejects both forms of reductionism but, at the end of the day, accepts a post-Hartian approach that treats normativity as a moral property. On the other hand, it highlights that this moralist concept of normativity is primarily based on the assumption that normative terms have a unified meaning in moral and legal contexts and that, according to that unified meaning, normativity is always a moral property. The proposal is that within the positivist approach, which Bix is committed to accept, it is necessary to discuss these assumptions in order to give an adequate account of legal normativity as an essential property of every legal system.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:auto;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:auto;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}