Law, Coercion and Folk Intuitions. (10th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Miotto, Lucas; Almeida, Guilherme F C F; Struchiner, Noel
• Is Part Of: Oxford journal of legal studies. Volume 43:Number 1(2023)
• Page Start: 97
• Page End: 123
• Publication Date: 2022-10-10
• Subjects: experimental jurisprudence -- legal philosophy -- law and coercion -- empirical legal studies -- general jurisprudence; Law -- Periodicals; Law reviews -- Periodicals; 340.05
• DOI: 10.1093/ojls/gqac014
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-6503

Abstract

Abstract: In discussing whether legal systems are necessarily coercive, legal philosophers usually appeal to thought experiments involving angels or other morally driven beings who need no coercion to organise their social lives. Such appeals have invited criticism. Critics have not only challenged the relevance of such thought experiments to our understanding of legal systems; they have also argued that, contrary to the intuitions of most legal philosophers, the 'man on the Clapham Omnibus' would not hold that there is law in a society of angels because the view that law is necessarily coercive 'enjoys widespread support among laypersons'. This is obviously an empirical claim. Critics, however, never systematically polled the 'man on the Clapham Omnibus'. We boarded that bus. This article discusses findings from five empirical studies on the relationship between law and coercion.