Tại các nguy cơ của sự lặp lại, các ý kiến này, tôi hy vọng, sẽ chặn bất kỳ sự hiểu lầm rằng "giáng chức" tuyên bố của nhà nước bằng cách từ bỏ quan điểm rằng luật pháp nhất thiết hoặc thậm chí thường tuyên bố quyền không đòi hỏi đưa ra câu hỏi liệu cácpháp luật hiện trên thực tế có thẩm quyền như vậy. | 88 part i law s morals moral judgment become the norm that is enforced within the family. But if they did think about the question there is reason to suspect that they would hope that moral theory is rich enough to show that the motivation for children s complying even with wrongheaded directives stems as much from a true moral theory about the respect that is owed parents as it does from the fear of the sanction. At the risk of repetition the latter comments will I hope forestall any misunderstanding that to demote the claims of the state by abandoning the view that law necessarily or even typically claims authority does not entail giving up on the question of whether the law does in fact have such authority. Quite the contrary The argument I make here simply restores that question to the position it has always occupied - a matter of concern primarily for moral philosophy not for bald assertion by the law and of course a matter of concern for any conscientious citizen. 4 The Nature of Law Before proceeding to the normative half of this study to examine whether law actually has moral authority this chapter briefly summarizes the conclusions of Part I by indicating how they bear on certain familiar issues in legal theory. Three distinct but related questions dominate discussions about the nature of law. Two of these questions have long-standing pedigrees as critical paths to a better understanding of the concept the third question a more recent arrival on the scene is a close cousin of the first two and shows signs of becoming equally central to the current debate. The three questions are 1 what do we mean by legal obligation 2 what is the connection between law and morality and 3 what is the connection between law and certainty The Meaning of Legal Obligation Moral philosophers usually distinguish between what one ought to do and what one is obligated to do. Obligations it is usually said are more important or more serious than mere oughts. Though there is .
