[Lon L. Fuller] the Morality of Law (vs)

The Morality of Law Lon L. Fuller REVISED EDITION

STO • • S LECTU.eS ON IUa15,aUDlll'Ice YALE LIoW SCHOOL,

1'1S3

THE MORALITY OF LAW

Revised edition BY LON L. FULLER.

NEW HAVEN AND LONDON, YALE UN1V£kSITY PI.ESS

,

c ;;... C I~"" Yolo lIooMniIJ. h'riooIIlHilm .." . . . C 1969 '" Y_ u.l.uoil,. Alri,pQ._ ..... , . . _ . . , . .... """'P .. ed.," . . . . . ioo pM. ioo.., ~ . ..."... , . ·..... ..,.S.d IOJ IO...' U.S. C l)Iip1Lc...... ~"'.¥ _i ......

.•

_I. wiIlIOctplrs "1 MMtJI 11lJ,.",.", (1946): and by 1M oame IUthor. Tlte VQI/le lIuJ,r",.," (19"); H. L. A. Hart. TM COlIC'''' 01 z..,w (1%1), Pl'. 176-t10; J. M. Findl.y. V.I....I QNI '''''''';-1 (1960; Richard B. Btancll. £,ltl SuIdOtn (19oe Ukmptcd • summary of Puhlluni.· lheory in MPububnis and V)'Ibinlty:'" Study in lhe I)eyc,IopQ>ent of "'.nisl Lepl T'heor)': ,n Mklllpft /.II'" Ik,;~", II '7-66 (1949).

" •

TH!. MORALITY OF LAW

serve our ends at lhe same time we serve thein. Indeed, any kind of reciprocily, however circuitously il may operate Ihrough social forms, casts men in a dual role, as ends in themselves and as means to the ends of others. Since there is DO clear stop or breaking poinl belwccn implicil reciprocity and explicit uchange, Pashukanis ends with the conclusion Ihal when communism is finally achieved all moral duties will disappear. These views proved 100 suong (or al leasl 100 inconvenienl) for Pashukanis' contemporaries in Sialinist Russia, and he was liquidllled in 1937. In justice to his memory it sbould be said that his theories have Slrona roots in the leachings of lhe communist forefathers. They obviously derive 5Uppon from the twin doctrines of the superslruClW"e and of the fUIW"e witherinl away of stale and law. They al50 have a remarkable emotional affinity with the whole tenor of Marx's thoughl. especially as revealed in the youthful "alienation theme." Man. seemed to bave had a strona diAalte for any prirICiple or arrangemenl thai oould make OM man serve Inc ends of another. though this compulsion is DOl only implicil in exchange bUI in any kind of formal social organizalioD. lbis distaste reveals itself implicitly in his lifelong antipathy 10 the very notion of a formal division of labor. an antipathy all the more curious since it mUSI have been plain to Marx thai the ec0nomic prod\ICtion sought by communism would be impossible without the gains resulting from a specialization of funclion. This fundamenlll aversion to interdependence comes 10 most articulate expression in an early passage iii which Mllfx describes life in bourgeois society--that is, in a trading society-as one in which man "treats others as means. reduces himself to Inc rote of a means. and becomes the plaything of alien forces."zO With the biller mood of Ihis passage from Marx we may contrast the description of C'COnomic exchange !pven by Philip WickslCCd, a Unitarian minister lurned economist: over Ihe whole range of exchangeable things we can usually act more polenlly by the indirecl. mclbod of pursuing or 20. Quoled from T\>b>iout misuas of tcai"ali~ power. Th& California CoasIiIution, for cumplc, probibill opeclaIla... Mfor the puniabman of cnme. ....... la.tinllhe ~ of _ru of justice lfIIlIio& di¥Dr'l;llS .•• doclariol any penon of ...." (Artil:IcVI 125, mended to NO".•, 1951.)Th&_ Artil:1c, however, _uins • _ra1 pmblbition of lpKial or local I.... Min all CIJeI wltcn • _raIl.w can be made applicablc. MThis .... JIf'o. ducal • ...,ri~ doonybroolt of IItl,ptjon.

47

THE MOR.ALITY OF LAW

lating general rules; if he does, he mlY 1M)( succeed in conveyiug them 10 the employee, de. If the empJoyer Iiucceeds in bringing into existence a functioning system of rules. he will discover thll this success has been bought at a certain cost 10 himself. He mUll IlOI only invest some effort and intelligence in the enterprise. bUI ilS very Iiuccess limilS his own freedom of action. If in distributing praise and «nsure, hc habitually disregards his own rules, he may lind his systcm of law disinlcgrating. and wilbout any open rcvolt, it may cease to produce [or him whit he soughl to obtain through il. In actuaisYlilcms for controlling and directing human cooduet • IOfai failure to achieve anything Iikc I general rulc iii rare. Some gencralwtion is implicit in the act of communicating: even I singlc wish. The command to a dog. "Shake hands," demands some power of generaliZition in both master and dog. Before he can cJ:t(:utc the command the dog has 10 undcrsWtd Whll range of Iilighlly diBcrem aet5 will be lICCCp{ed u shaking bands. FunhertnOfc, a welJ-trlined dog will come in time to perceive in what kinds of situations he is likely 10 be asked to shakc hands and will often ClItend hili paw in anticipation of I command 1M)( yet Jiven. Obviously 50mething like Ibis can and does happen in human allain, even when those POSliC55ing: Ibe power to command have no desire 10 lay down general rules. But if a lOCal failure of generalization requires !he special taleol for Ioeptilude of • King RCIl, lhe fact is Ibat many legal 1y&lemS, large IDd small, suffer grievously from a lack of general principle. S The problem of generalily receives a very inadeqUaie 1U1tment in thc lileralure of jurisprudence. AUSlin correctly perceived thai I legal s)'Stem is 50mething more than a series of palterDless cnrcise.s of political powcr. Yd his Ittempt 10 distiDJUisb between general and particular commands was so arbitrary and 50 unrelaled 10 his s)'Slcm as a whole Ibat !he AngJl>-American ,. Herben Wcchsier'l complaint !hal lOme of the rccan dcciIKInI of !he Su~lIM: Coon on tonSIitUlionl1 isI-. l..:k !he ~ of rtUOIlld FMrality thol "";11 ....... the Coon', MneultlJityM illhe lateII apr 1111 JI. of I p1o;nl thlr Joel boock 10 Ihe be,uwnp of llw illelr. sec Wech*r.'rilt-

..

ci"llI. Politics. "lUi F.....mnu,,1 lAw (1!Hi I).

THI! WOItALITY THAT MAKES LAW POSSIILB

literature sirK:c his time has scarcely reeovefed from Ihb original

misOUlll alp 'U!POP'U! ~UI: ,(q ¥(*tt rum entirely in formal Of ltrUCtural tenDs. 1be aunmlll communic:ates his threat in a face-to-face situation; the law expreues itself normaJIy in

same,"

me

M

linate

'39

THE

MORALITY OP LAW

standina: and general orders that may be published, but do DOt constitute a direct communication between lawgiver and subject. Acting through general rules is "the standard way in whkh law functions, if only bel:ause no society could support the number of officials necesnry to se.mmen. "'t'1lc H..., AIla1ytieal JuriIu.w 41 N ... Y..... Ulliwnty t.,", Rrwl... 861_96 (1966).

190

A aEPLY TO CalTles

eacb ycu," be _

throughout to have some difficulty iD IJtic. ulatiDl just what philosophic creed unites this new school. of lhouJbt. I think I may be able to help him iD this. AccordiDg to Summers the adhereJllS of the New An"yticaI JurisprudeDce iDelude Hut, Ronald Dworkin, and himself. He also c:oasiders ManbJlI COOeD as , phUosopher thinking and writinl iD , vein similar 10 thlt of the New Analytical Jurists. 1lIeIC four men have wrinen iD aD some ninety pqes of critical commentary on my boot. I CItllestify to anllDlZing uniformity in their reactionJ;; wbole parapaphs could be Ifaruferred from one discussion to aDOtber without any perceptible break iD CODtinuity of thought. II is apparenl that here, too, we are deal.iDJ IlOI wilh cxpIicit tbeorieI but witb wbl! Hut called "swtittg points." Perhaps I em iD wbl! foUo'NS identify !bose startinJ poiDa more clearly Ihan !be New Analytical JurisIs tbemselves bave been able to do. The SlructUTe of ANll)'liad Legal Posit/viml Whit I shaD attempt: here is to briDl to uticuJation the basic

inteJJec1u" commitments ullderlying analytical lep! positivism. By the adjective "an..ytic.... I mean 10 exclude behavior-pattera posilivism of the 50ft sUJlCSted wben iI was pt oposcd, I! Ihe hei&bt of the movemenl c..led Americu up! Realism, 10 define law as "tbe behavior patterns of judges and other officlalS."IO The term "analytical~ is also apl in collveying an intellectual mood lb'l finds more salisfaction in lakin! things apart thut in seeina bow they fit and function together; there is, indeed, linle interest amona analytical positivists in discemin& the elementl; of tacit intem:latedness Ihat infuse-dtoup always somewItat imperften tile fon::e tI!. Ilw U raidilll in the tluut of unction.. rotber th.n in In 1C:CeP_ of IUtbority; (1) AustiIl'l tbeoty prWlpflClllO!S direct communication benr«tI I...,;...r and Iepl oubjer:t. But. pllinly. d1ccti~ manl!t'ri.1 direction reolS. mtl crucial paiDI in distin· .ui....;n. Ilw from m.nqaill direction lies in I oomrnitment by Ihc: Iepl .uthoril~ 10.bide by its own an~ ",I.. ill jlldlin.1hc: ~

Cruel and unlJlUal punia/uneut. 105 Customuy I••, inlCrpretatioo of. 227-28; n.ture of. 233--36; all an ingredient of ~made~ I.w. 232. 23"; problema of tnnIition from, to enactcod I.w, 234-36 Decl.ration of IndependerKC, 156 Del Vecchio, 0., 23 n. Devlin, P. A .• 112 n. Dicey, A. V ~ 011 parliameDtary sovereignty, 1I5-11 Dispute ilCttlement not uduaiw: aim of I.w, 55 Dodgson. Charles. 177 Due proo::as, 81, 105...()6 Dutiea; rul" impoJlJina, contraated with rules conferriD& pcrwen. 93, 1l4-37; ec:ooomic a110cati00 cannot be orpllized by. 17~76; iICOPC of COlIUIIWlily within wbid! dutiea ~ meaningful. 181-12

INDEX Duty,coo ;tof,&lDCIntOreeb,5; ill primitive .,Qcty, 143-44. Su ../so Morality of eMy Dworkin. Ronald, IISI, ISIO. In, ISllI-9!I, 201, 221-22, 224 .... 238-3S1, 141 EooDomict: definitioDs of. IS-I'; par.11d8 .,.jth morality, 11-30; adjudieation an ioept meana for 1OI.viDJ: task of. 110-16. Su ..130 ~c:b.nae; MarPW Utility; Reciprocity ElIesmeR, Lard, 61 D. Bmtnet, Dorothy, 239 Etcan.. Jean, 143 D. EJc~ CllXlOOUIicI of. ~parcd with monlity of duty, 1Sl-21, 21. Su abo MuaiIIa1 Utility; Reci·

-

EJcpulpool from dubl, aooll, and UIOCiatioDl as ....bjcet to judi~w review, 114-29 Federal Communic:ationl CommiIRon,46, 171_15 Fed""-lisf, TlI~, 80, 101 Fidelity to Ia., obli&:ation of, 3S1-

"

FindllY, J. M .. 5 D. Fora, MDalon of, as diainpishinl: la.. from morality, 108-10 Frankfurter. Felli.. 102 "Friedmann. W.• 107 Friendly. H. J.. 111-15 Fuller, L L.. 18 n., 2S n.. 40 D., 46 D.. &4 D., Sl2 D., 232 n., 241 n.

Oamblin.,6-9 OeDer1llity of ...... 34, 46--4S1; cooltitutionai probibitiotu of spoew aod private la.... 41; billl of 1Ittaiockr. 52 D., 91-Sl8. 110. HI; retaliOll to juaUoe, 13"1_59, 16S,

193--9S; .. aft"~ mana,aiaI diro:dion, 209; .. eI$eI1tia1. to Rule of Law, 209-10 Geofae III, 1S6 Golden Rule, 20-21 Good Samaritan, 182-83 Oonlieb, Oidon, 224 D. Goua:h,I. W.. !19 GmMm v. GoDduli. SS D. Gray. J. C .. 'lSI D.. S2 D., 83-84, 91, 112, 226 GTeekl, conception of morality amOIlIo S. 13-1S

Hale, IL 1- S2 0.. 103 n. Hall, J., 18 n. Hamilton, Alcxander, 101 Hamplhire, Stlw1, ISl6 HIlTOd. R. P., 16 D. Hart, H. L. A., 5 n.; on defeasible COIll:eJlta, 29-30. !IS D.; 00 Jep.. IIItiDa montll, 132 n.; "'the Nle of recoanition," 133--44. ISl2; Nlea impoaina: dutia distina:uUbcd from rulell (:(Illferrinl: po"Nel'l, 13-4-31; distinction bet_ a lep.1 I)'Stem IItld "'the I\I.DDlI.ll liluation writ larae," 139-40; problem of Ihe pel"$i$teDCe of Ia..... 141...2, 14S1-50; trllDlitioD from primitive IOdety to "the Iepi trotld," 142--44; on the lilnifiQnce of Ihe iIIt~mal morality of la...., In-55, ISl1; "the pathol. 0IY of alelall)'3t~m." ISS, 13"1; a minimum nltural la.. ISS, 184-86; criticisms of Ihis book. 188, 189-91, 196,201; bis anaIysi$ of Ia.. based on m.anqerial ~,214-1~ 223",2]7-38 Hart, Henry M.. ID D.. 18 D.. 180, 123 Hayek. F. A.. 24, iW-6S

2"

INDEX

Hel:tor. L" 11. Hrydo,,', CIUr, 12-$) Hitler. Gennll1l b.w uDder. -4()..