Invisibility of Human Rights in H.L.A. Hart’s Legal Theory: A Critical Review of the Nature of Law Based on Human Rights
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51204/IVRS_25109AKeywords:
Human rights, Law, Ontological Anthropology , Rule of Recognition , Substantive ConstraintsAbstract
H.L.A. Hart’s legal theory in “The Concept of Law” defines law as a system of primary and secondary rules, separating law from morality while allowing moral elements within the rule of recognition. However, Hart’s omission of human rights limits his framework’s relevance to contemporary legal philosophy, particularly regarding legal legitimacy in the international system. This article critiques Hart’s rule of recognition by integrating human rights into the legal framework, drawing on Turkish philosopher Takiyeddin Mengusoglu’s ontological approach to human phenomena. It argues that law and human rights are interwoven human achievements with shared phenomenological roots. This integration strengthens the legal framework to address global challenges such as conflicts, authoritarian regimes, and rights encroachments. By embedding human rights within the rule of recognition, this revised framework ensures the protection of human rights and enhances legal legitimacy amidst evolving international dynamics.
References
Alexy, Robert. 2010. Argument From Injustice: A Reply to Legal Positivism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Alexy, Robert. 3/2008. On the Concept and the Nature of Law. Ratio Juris 21: 281–299.
Berto, Francesco, Matteo Plebani. 2015. Ontology and Metaontology: A Contemporary Guide. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Bix, Brian H. 2004. Natural Law: The Modern Tradition. 62–100. The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law, edited by J.L. Coleman and S. Shapiro. New York: Oxford University Press.
Buchanan, Allen. 2013. The Heart of Human Rights. New York: Oxford University Press. Chachko, Elena, Katerina Linos. 2022. International Law After Ukraine: Introduction to the Symposium. AJIL Unbound 116: 124–129.
Coleman, Jules L. 3/1991. Rules and Social Facts. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 14: 703–725.
Dworkin, Ronald. 1977. Taken Rights Seriously. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Dworkin, Ronald. 1986. Law’s Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Dworkin, Ronald. 2006. Justice in Robes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
FreedomHouse.2024.AnnualReportfor2023. https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/FIW_2024_DigitalBooklet.pdf last visited October 10, 2024.
Fuller, Lon L. 1969. The Morality of Law. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Fuller, Lon L. 4/1958. Positivism and Fidelity to Law: A Reply to Professor Hart. Harvard Law Review 71: 630–672.
Green, Leslie. 2013. The Morality in Law. 113–132. Reading HLA Hart’s The Concept of Law, edited by Luís Duarte d’Almeida, James Edwards, and Andrea Dolcetti. Oxford and Portland: Hart Publishing.
Guarino, Nicola, Daniel Oberle, Steffen Staab. 2009. What Is an Ontology. 1–17. Handbook on Ontologies, edited by Steffen Staab, Rudi Studer. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
Hart, Herbert L.A. 2/1955. Are There Any Natural Rights. Duke University Press 64: 175–191.
Hart, Herbert L.A. 1961. The Concept of Law. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hart, Herbert L.A. 1962. Law, Liberty, and Morality. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Hart, Herbert L.A. 1982. Essays on Bentham: Studies in Jurisprudence and Political Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hart, Herbert L.A. 2001. Essays in Jurisprudence and Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hart, Herbert L.A. 2012. The Concept of Law. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hathaway, Oona A. 3/2024. War Unbound: Gaza, Ukraine, and the Breakdown of International Law. Foreign Affairs 103: 84–96.
Hohfeld, Wesley N. 1/1913. Some Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning. The Yale Law Journal 23: 16–59.
Kuçuradi, Ioanna. 2013. Human Rights: Concepts and Problems. Berlin: LIT Verlag.
Kuçuradi, Ioanna. 2022. İnsan Hakları: Kavramları ve Sorunları. Ankara: The Philosophical Society of Türkiye.
Mengüşoğlu, Takiyettin. 2021. İnsan Felsefesi (Philosophical Anthropology). Ankara: Doğu-Batı Yayınları.
Modirzadeh, Naz K. 1/2023. Let Us All Agree to Die a Little: TWAIL’s Unfulfilled Promise. Harvard International Law Journal 65: 80–130.
Morris, Julia. 2021. A Degree in a Book: Anthropology: Everything You Need to Know to Master the Subject – in One Book. Seattle, Washington: Sirius Publishing. Morsink, Johannes. 2019. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Holocaust: An Endangered Connection. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Quine, Willard Van. 5/1948. On What There Is. Review of Metaphysics 2: 21–38.
Radbruch, Gustav, Bonnie Litschewski Paulson, and Stanley L. Paulson. 1/2006. Statutory Lawlessness and Supra-Statutory Law (1946). Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 26: 1–11.
Raz, Joseph 1979. The Authority of Law. New York: Oxford University Press.
Raz, Joseph 1/1984. Hart on Moral Rights and Legal Duties. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 4: 123–131.
Raz, Joseph 1986. The Morality of Freedom. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Raz, Joseph 2010. Human Rights Without Foundations 321–338. The Philosophy of International Law, edited by Samantha Besson and John Tasioulas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scheler, Max. 2009. The Human Place in the Cosmos. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press.
Simon, Robert L. 3/1970. Is Hart’s Natural Right a Human Right. Ethics 80: 236–237.
Smith, Barry. 2012. Ontology. 47–68 in The Furniture of the World: Essays in Ontology and Metaphysics, edited by Guillermo Hurtedo, Oscar Nudler. Leiden: Brill.
Veatch, Henry B. 2018. Swimming Against the Current in Contemporary Philosophy: Occasional Essays and Papers. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press.
Wacks, Raymond. 2021. Understanding Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Legal Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
