Hart - Concept of Law - Ch 2 (Summary of John Austin's Theory of Law)

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This is the first video lecture in a course on the philosophy of law. In this chapter, Hart summarizes John Austin's habit- and sanction-based theory of law. Austin's behaviorist (or very nearly behaviorist) theory of law is presented by the introduction and step-by-step adaptation of a simple gunman scenario. The concepts of internal supremacy and external independence are also explained by Hart. These are the notions that make up Austin's conception of sovereignty.

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[@profjeffreykaplan]

Thanks for the kind words! Glad that I could help. Here is my playlist of all of the chapters from the book about which I have produced lecture videos: kzbin.info/aero/PL7YPshZMeLIbkhDcwdyhyCFlA6Na9nvn8 And feel free to share my videos with others who might find them helpful. I have no idea how to game this KZbin algorithm.

[@williamday542]

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I'm in first year of law school. Jurisprudence has been the most difficult to grasp. Not just the material or substance but what Jurisprudence even is. This has been extremely helpful. I have ADHD, reading is difficult for me when it comes to new material and subjects. You are helping me get into Jurisprudence.

[@profjeffreykaplan]

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Your a genius. You not only explained it perfectly in plain english, you did it in 30mins. My lecturers cannot do this. With that being said, I cannot thank you enough. Keep the good work up.

[@jonathanvolovich4357]

You have explained perfectly in 29 minutes what my professor has so far failed to explain in 6 hours of lectures. My gratitude is beyond words!

[@noman312]

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[@profjeffreykaplan]

Glad I could help!

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[@profjeffreykaplan]

I am glad that I could help!

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[@rosanak2374]

So glad I found your videos! I'm in my last year of law in the UK studying legal theory and your videos really help to make sense of all the complicated stuff. Many thanks

[@profjeffreykaplan]

I'm glad to help!

[@a-moralphilosopher3525]

Thanks for starting this series! Look forward to watching the rest! Naturally, you are probably going to talk a lot about the interaction of law and ethics. I would be particularly curious to hear about what reflection various normative theories' principles find in law, and how our raw intuitions may be contrary to particular legal rules. One notorious example would be the law's denial of utilitarianism's aggregation thesis, which many find to be a no-brainer, at least in thought experiments.

[@danielrebello6775]

This video is golden man! You explained much better than my own prof, thank you!!

[@elchinito4247]

Thank you for this great resource! Just got into reading Hart and am planning to enter law school after undergrad. I’m excited to watch your other videos.

[@profjeffreykaplan]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@unforecasted]

Amazing content, Jeffrey! Thank you!

[@abdullahsaleem1604]

Thanks Sir!! I can’t tell how much this helped me i have exams around the corner and had no idea of what’s all this debate about, it’s so easy to understand now. ❤️

[@profjeffreykaplan]

Glad I could help!

[@deanwilliams9711]

For anyone curious about LCC, Professor Kaplan is quite right, it is (was) something in the UK government - it was the London County Council (the forerunner of the Greater London Council, which was itself the forerunner of the current London Assembly), and it had control of policy areas like education and health delegated to it by the relevant statutes.

[@alihasnain2799]

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[@user-fr7zm1hr7v]

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[@profjeffreykaplan]

Thanks. It only looks that way! Takes some effort. But thanks.

[@msrad223]

I have an exam in a few hours and this video was my saviour. Thank you so so much. This was great. Will be reading all of them even though my course requires me to read only a few parts. :D

[@profjeffreykaplan]

Glad it was helpful!

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[@profjeffreykaplan]

Thanks! Lot's more stuff coming the next few months.

[@a-moralphilosopher3525]

@@profjeffreykaplan Looking forward to seeing the next episode on this!

[@alexmaina2422]

These videos made me understand the concept of Jurisprudence. Thank you to my lecturer who was also watching these videos

[@chrisw4562]

Great lecture, explaining something so clearly that is almost incomprehensible in its original form. That seems to be generally the case. When someone writes a long book about a theory that ultimately does not make sense, they tend to do it in a very convoluted way using big words, hoping that nobody would catch on to them 🙂

[@slamscape3868]

This is so helpful thank you!

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I am watching from Namibia and thank you so much, very helpful indeed.

[@profjeffreykaplan]

You're welcome!

[@vishalkundal4472]

Very nicely expressed 🙏🙏

[@ulissesdlm]

What a class, man! It is quite interesting how Austin's theory faces the legitimation of the normative statements. Indeed, maybe this is the real reason that condenses the logical conformity of his legal theory. When you assume that the laws' enforcement derives from premises like habits or sanctions, it's clearly revealed that behaviorism works as a paradigm for comprehension of the juridical phenomena, something like a way or standard to explain the law theory (obviously in behaviorist terms). If, on the one hand, Austin managed to adapt his legal theory to the most advanced scientific thought of his time, he ended up harming significant dimensions of the legal phenomenon. By the way, it is amazing to think of and explain law in psychological terms. It opens a wide range of scientific possibilities about the juridical norms. Sorry for my bad English. Greetings from Brazil!

[@boceksiadam]

This beats all the pdfs I've read so far.

[@sheikhaqibqadir3676]

appreciable... thank you sir... love from India (kashmir)

[@andreasmaaan]

Great lecture, thanks :) One small note: At around the 5-minute mark you say you're not sure whether Austin and Bentham were behaviourists. In fact, behaviourism did not emerge until the early 20th century; their writings predate it by roughly a century!

[@jaffa1952]

The LCC (not LLC) was the London County Council ie a local government body with some statutory puwers

[@pinecone421]

Dr. Kaplan, are you an ethical non-naturalist? I got that vibe from one of your earliest videos on your ethics talk, since it seemed like you also think there are epistemic norms. Secondly, your playlist was the first to pop up when searching ‘philosophy of law,’ so good job 🥳.

[@globuspallidus2457]

Could you give a lecture on Godel's incompleteness theorems? It would be great!

[@sheilaisaac7607]

Additionally, I found a slight resemblance of omnipotence that trickled out of my recent philosophy of religion course when you mentioned the Queen answering to no one else. Nothing more, just an observation.

[@bonolomarciaphuku]

LCC stands for the legal convictions of the community I think

[@magnacarter8119]

My Professor also skipped Austin and did hart. I was confused at first, thought I had skipped a class or something

[@zhaoken5136]

Same as u, seems like jurisprudence is the most undermined subject not for students but for lecturer😂😂

[@morganpritchard4177]

Just a note. Queen-in-Parliament is a part of Parliament. Parliament is sovereign not the Queen.

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[@profjeffreykaplan]

Joel, I am as well as one can be at a moment like this. I hope everything is well with you as well! I had to teach a bunch of online courses, so I put all these lectures up here. There probably doesn't exist enough interest on the internet for my philosophy lectures to make me famous, but we shall see!

[@mrfrog3565]

Amazing. Tysm

[@Megaritz]

This is a really informative lecture. I’ve watched bits of a few others in your philosophy of law series, and I’ll be watching the whole thing shortly. I know very little about philosophy of law, despite being in a grad program with some political philosophers. And this is a major gap for me, since I plan to work on philosophical critique of drug laws. (My only familiarity with Hart is some later commentaries on the Hart-Devlin debate.) Is it a bit anachronistic to call Austin’s theory ‘behaviorist’? My understanding is that the term “behaviorism” emerged in 1900s psychology, and wouldn’t have been used in the 1800s in this way. With that said, I think I do see how Austin’s theory has affinities with the later behaviorist theories, regarding his efforts to explain human institutions by appeal to outward behaviors rather than mental states.

[@danishfarhaad6094]

LCC is-The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965

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You are amazing

[@badalsinghrajput7163]

Thanks from India 🇮🇳

[@profjeffreykaplan]

You're welcome!

[@NowshinRahmanShimu]

I used to hate jurisprudence. Now that I'm understanding, it seems quite interesting

[@profjeffreykaplan]

Woah, now *that* is a complement!

[@galaxysega3883]

Why are the comments turned off on the "people are evil" talk? That video needs comments, so much to speak about

[@Martin-dl1om]

great videos，thanks from China

[@profjeffreykaplan]

You're welcome! And thanks for the kind words.

[@badalsinghrajput7163]

You guys also read Hart.. But why..?

[@Martin-dl1om]

@@badalsinghrajput7163 so。。Why not？

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@@Martin-dl1om 国内讲哈特的，除了陈景辉老师的讲座，我实在找不到别的了。。

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@@user-xu8bt1hd4m 都忙着发几篇和当官，能带着学生读哈特的都是大善人。🤣

[@J__C_]

Sir plss make vids on Austin & Kelsen as well

[@sheilaisaac7607]

Is the idea of the gunman supposed to introduce or propose the basis of authoritarianism? Only on minute "8:50", so likely more thoughts, comments, or questions to come!

[@daffadhiya6781]

thank you so much

[@profjeffreykaplan]

You're welcome!

[@han.splash9648]

Are you also studying law in high school ?

[@daffadhiya6781]

@@han.splash9648 nope, im in law school rn

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@@daffadhiya6781 I'm in grade 12 and i enrolled in a law course and am suffering. Can you help if i pay u a bit of cash?

[@daffadhiya6781]

@@han.splash9648 sorry to disappoint, but I learn the law in a country that uses civil law (which is obviously different from the US legal system). therefore, I don't think I'm qualified to teach you. but if u have any question I'll try my best to answer them

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Please 🙏 make a video on Kelson theory please please please

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[@jamesstever5200]

Blackstone, St Thomas Aquinas, Plato

[@agassimoreau3211]

So the 5 theories you covered. Are those the comment theories of Austin???

[@profjeffreykaplan]

I wouldn't quite say that the five things I list in this video are "theories." Instead, they are ways that, according to Austin (as Hart portrays him), a simple gunman scenario can be modified such that it turns into a legal system.

[@dushyantshekhar5615]

Please make a class for chapterr 8 and 9 also. Thankyou.

[@profjeffreykaplan]

I will try. Unfortunately, I have several other courses that I am required to teach this coming semester, so I probably won't be able to make videos on those chapters for some time.

[@dushyantshekhar5615]

@@profjeffreykaplan thanks for your consideration. Actually our classes are also going on for the same. Your classes are helping me a lot. Thankyou and waiting for you videos on chapter 8 and 9.

[@stoicovic3130]

please consider this request sir

[@DavidRobison23]

My guess for LCC is London County Council.

[@letsimage]

excuse me, but where is the chapter 1? I don't see it in playlist :(

[@Gunsales1000]

LCC Local County Council is my bet.

[@ensla736]

Why there are not Hart - Concept of Law - Ch1?

[@JF1270]

Love your lectures....but how the heck are you writing....its driving me nuts!

[@profjeffreykaplan]

Thanks. You are not the first to ask! I get this frequently enough that I made a video explaining how it works: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJDHZWeYocaSfaM

[@sarahaugust1513]

LCC: Legal Convictions of the Community :)

[@1986LuisK]

I'm confused. Is naturalism and natural law the same? And if not are they even related?

[@user-nb3mq3cg8k]

Natural law is not a specific doctrine like -ism- it is a fundamental moral concept in jurisprudence that is expounded by St. Thomas Aquinas

[@1986LuisK]

@@user-nb3mq3cg8k Thanks. I come from a civil law system so sometimes is difficult to understand the legal terms from the common law perspective.

[@TheNaturalLawInstitute]

Jeffrey - I doubt few people, whether in the audience or even in the discipline, understand how well you communicate this subject. We should note that these theorists: Bentham, Austin, Rez, Kelsen, Hart, Dworkin, and Rawls all justify (make excuses) for positive law (commands). While Blackstone Hayek, Epstein, and Scalia are all making scientific explanations of the law. But does the audience know the difference between justificationary command and the scientific decidability? It's that the scientific explanation (European) use of sovereignty and reciprocity forces the population to use the legislature to ADAPT, and the law and court limit the legislature and thereby the people to ADAPTATION whereas accommodation (command) does not. This is the difference between command and law: command (justification) is cumulatively devolutionary, and law (science) is cumulatively evolutionary. In this context, we see why western states remained small and never fell to empire as did the rest of the world into civilization states: the pressure to continuously evolve by continuous adversarial competition forcing continuous personal, social, and political adaptation. And legal positivism has been the reason for the collapse of western civilization in the industrial and especially postwar age: we are no longer forcing the population to adapt, but finding excuses for maladaptation and devolution.

[@JasonWild-kk3lm]

"I am under no Laws but God's" ~ lesson 76 ACIM

[@stoicovic3130]

Dearest sir, please upload chapter 8 and 9. Its a small request, please consider it.

[@KPIBM]

What’s chapter one?

[@profjeffreykaplan]

I don't bother teaching chapter 1 in my Philosophy of Law courses. It's boring!

[@mariamsaah3449]

Your works are too lengthy and I feel you should be straight forward with some of your explanation. But I like your work no cap 🧢❤

[@user-dn9lx3dh5i]

Where is chapter 1

[@TomJohnSmith]

this is saving my ass rn.

[@BenDjinn]

Modification 3 sounds like Stockholm syndrome and isn't modification 4 the "adhere to authority" fallacy? Looking forward to Hart's response

[@drapetomaniadrapetomania5998]

Thanks

[@sarazzzzz6905]

太牛了 一下就懂了

[@katherandefy]

Hi no comments on Singer = no sub from me Great topic. Would love to participate. My guess is ppl lost their shirts but I can ignore it. Zero need to argue. But I enjoy commenting.

[@Watersnake777]

You haven't missed anything by avoiding barfights.

[@Gunsales1000]

Lcc local city council

[@danielfarbowitz671]

Austin's legal system sounds like a gunman holding everyone hostage perpetually so that they mostly put the money in the bag.

[@johnmichaelcule8423]

LLC would be... Hmmm a 'limited liability company'. That can't be right. Perhaps Hart meant the LCC the 'London County Council' which was the local authority for inner London (except the City) from 1889 to 1965. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_County_Council

[@orbisromanis9507]

Austin's concept of law is so manifestly wrong and primitive that when Hart takes it upon himself to argue with it, he becomes wrong and primitive just as well. You simply can't be taken seriously if you begin arguing with something totally devoid of scientific value and common sense.