Imagine a world without any laws. What would it look like? Chaos? ‒ or would we still have order? Would we still know right from wrong? Would life be more or less predictable? How would disputes be handled? Would we still have personal rights and freedoms? Would we protect each other or only ourselves? What about roads, buildings, jobs, and schools? Thinking about these questions may transport you to a whole new fantasy, a world completely different from the one you live in, and it may make you realize how much laws organize our reality. The law is present in almost everything we do. Laws govern your behavior 🚫, the roof over your head, the food you eat, the clothes you’re wearing, the social media you post your selfies on, the car you drive, and the roads you drive your car on. Without us always realizing, the law plays a role in the structure of our lives, which might lead you to ask — why? 

Legal philosophy explores the nature of law and its connection to values, attitudes, practices, and political groups. This is an essential element of philosophy in general because it depends on, and sometimes contributes to, answers to fundamental philosophical questions about the nature of actions, intention, knowledge, and truth; the foundation of morality, rights, and justice; and the justifications of political authority.

There are several theories in the philosophy of law, so we will just address a few. Natural law theory dates way back to to Aristotle in Ancient Greece, but the most famous thinker in the tradition is likely St. Thomas of Aquinas. Natural law theory holds that people have inherent rights, which means they are not given those rights by a society or set of laws. It also believes that we can figure out what laws to have in society by looking at nature. John Locke, the modern philosopher, said that humans have built-in rights to life, liberty, and property. Locke’s theory became the foundation of the United States “Declaration of Independence,” where it was transformed into Thomas Jefferson’s famous phrase, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, which might ring a bell📜. Unlike the natural law theorists, legal positivists believe that every society has laws, which may or may not be just – that’s a different question. The law is just what the society posits or orders that we do. ⚖️ (peep the meme). Finally, legal realism sticks to the court systems. It’s about the laws that we have written down, suggesting that law is what the court decides 🏛. Do you object?