The philosophy of positive law : foundations of jurisprudence / James Bernard Murphy.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : natural, customary, and positive law -- 1. Positive language and positive law in Plato's Cratylus -- 2. Law's positivity in the natural law jurisprudence of Thomas Aquinas -- 3. Positive language and positive law in Thomas Hobbes -- 4. Positive law in the analytical positivism of John Austin -- Conclusion : the rise and fall of positive law.

"In this first book-length study of positive law, James Bernard Murphy rewrites central chapters in the history of jurisprudence by uncovering a fundamental continuity among four great legal philosophers: Plato, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Hobbes, and John Austin. In their theories of positive law, Murphy argues, these thinkers represent successive chapters in a single story." "Murphy demonstrates how the discourse of positive law incorporates both normative and descriptive dimensions of law, and he discusses the relation of positive law not only to jurisprudence but also to the philosophy of language, ethics, theories of social order, and biblical law."--BOOK JACKET.