From Bentham to Hart: Dynamics of Development of Juspositivism Key Ideas in the English-Speaking World (XIX - XXI Centuries)

This article analyzes the peculiarities of the development of legal positivism (juspositivism) in the countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal family. This approach to legal understanding was developed by professional lawyers and reflects the specifics of their legal consciousness focused on the study of positive law and its practical implementation. The key concepts defining the historical trajectory and problem field of legal positivism in the Anglo-American tradition, namely the legal teachings of Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, John Austin, Matthew Hale, William Blackstone, John William Salmond, William Jethro Brown, Herbert Hart are explored. As a result of the research the author made the following conclusions. The theoretical basis of the “first” legal positivism in England was largely laid by the political-legal teachings of T. Hobbes, in which it is possible to identify some common features with the legal concepts formulated by J. Bentham. The methodological basis for the British theories of legal positivism can be found in the concept developed by D. Hume. It presupposes the separation of two spheres: that which ought to be (“proper”) and that which is in effect (“essence”). At the same time, it is argued that the object of cognition and scientific research should be only the area of “essence”. The peculiarities of the genesis of the key institutions in the family of common (precedent) law determine the directions of the development of juspositivism concepts in the Anglo-American tradition. However, it is important to fix the special manifestations peculiar to “common law” and ways of adapting them to the provisions and principles of analytical jurisprudence. The paper also provides a brief overview of selected criticisms of Herbert Hart’s positivist project by John Finnis, Joseph Raz, Neil McCormick, and some other representatives of contemporary analytic jurisprudence.