Date of Award

11-5-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Laws (LLM)

Keywords

Law, Logic, Philosophy, Gödel, Incompleteness Theorem, Legal philosophy, Natural law, Positivism, Fuller, Hart, Hart-Fuller debate, Formal logic, Formal systems, Philosophical logic, Penrose, Consistency, Completeness, Platonism, Aquinas, Vagueness, Formalism, Naturalist fallacy, Telos, Inalienable rights, Practical reason, Manderson, Augustine, Polarity, Morality, Relativism

First Advisor

Kierstead, Shelley Margot

Abstract

Gödel showed that formal systems which discuss natural numbers cannot be complete or prove their own consistency. Incompleteness in this sense is limited to formal systems, and so is not applicable to law by it own terms.

Looking to the philosophy behind the Incompleteness Theorem, Gödel intended to show that positivism was a bankrupt world-view, and this resonates strongly with Lon Fuller. Fuller is analogous to Gödel in his condemnation of the positivist philosophy because he showed that a system of rules, by itself, was not capable of rendering judgments. A legal system is dependent upon an external morality, but a close inspection reveals that Fuller’s own natural law view was positivistic in its denial of substantive natural law. A legal system consistent with Gödel’s philosophy would seek justice in an objective and non-arbitrary sense, and would rely on a natural law system akin to that described by Aquinas.

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