The Deep Structure of Law & Morality

Loyola (LA) law prof Robin Kar has posted his new article, The Deep Structure of Law and Morality, in which he argues that:

The structure of obligata is the deep structure of morality and law. This suggests that much of the legal literature - including familiar descriptive and normative accounts from law and economics scholars - have been presupposing a psychological picture that is deeply at odds with how we naturally think about obligation. Morality and law do not arise from, and could not be sustained only by, separable beliefs about the world and preferences for states of affairs. The challenge raised here runs deeper, however, than recent empirical work showing we deviate from instrumental rationality in numerous, systematic ways. Our capacities to reason instrumentally may not figure very centrally at all in our moral or legal practices, and we may necessarily misunderstand these normative phenomena if we keep trying to shoehorn them into that model. To understand morality and law, we must instead understand how our distinctive capacities to identify and respond appropriately to obligations function.

(HT: Solum)

Rob