Speaking last week at the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s annual Mises University, Andrew Napolitano presented a captivating speech regarding legal issues, including an examination of natural law and positivism.
In the speech, Napolitano, who is the senior judicial analyst at Fox News and a former New Jersey judge, points to the importance of a central concept in natural law that “our rights come from our humanity.” “Now this is not just an academic argument,” Napolitano emphasizes, “because if our rights come from our humanity then they didn’t come from the government and the government can’t take them away.”
While natural law may be seen as the hero standing up for individuals against oppressive government, Napolitano also presents in his speech a villain: positivism. “Positivism teaches that the law is whatever the lawgiver says it is, and, so long as it is articulated, so long as it is written down, so long as it is ratified, then it is the law — no matter who the lawgiver is,” explains Napolitano.
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