What is the nature of law?
Brian Tamanaha has this post on the Balkinization Blog. He writes:
On Legal Theory Blog, Larry Solum just posted another excellent lexicon entry, this one on “The Nature of Law.” As usual, his explanation is concise and informative. Solum lays out the traditional legal theory debate over “What is law?” as a contest between natural law theory and legal positivism.
One limitation of Solum’s discussion is that it fails to consider the sophisticated analysis of this issue by social theorists and social scientists . . .
Another limitation of Solum’s discussion is that it treats the question “What is the nature of law?” as equivalent to the question “What is law?” But these are not the same question. If one takes the position that “law” has no “nature,” that opens up a different angle on “What is law?” . . .