William 1686-1761 Law

LAW,

a word used in English in two main senses—(I) as a rule prescribed by authority for human action, and (2) in scien tific and philosophic phraseology, as a uniform order of sequence (e.g., "laws" of motion). In this work the laws of uniformities of the physical universe are dealt with in the articles on the various sciences. The general principles of law in the legal sense are dis cussed under JURISPRUDENCE. What may be described as "na tional systems" of law are dealt with historically and generally under ENGLISH LAW, AMERICAN LAW, ROMAN LAW, GREEK LAW, MOHAMMEDAN LAW, INDIAN LAW, etc. Certain broad divisions of law are treated under CONSTITUTION AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, CANON LAW, CIVIL LAW, COMMON LAW, CRIMINAL LAW, ECCLESIASTICAL LAW, EQUITY, INTERNATIONAL LAW, MILITARY LAW AND MARTIAL LAW, etc. And the particular laws of dif ferent countries on 'special subjects are stated under the head ings for those subjects (BANKRUPTCY, etc.). For courts of law and procedure, see JURISPRUDENCE, KING'S BENCH, COURT OF, PRAC TICE AND PROCEDURE, etc.

In science and philosophy, law has several meanings, all of which are different from the sense it has when used with reference to legislation. (I) In most sciences a law is simply the formula tion of some uniform character, mode of behaviour, or uniform correlation of certain natural phenomena or events. The uni formity is in the nature of things themselves, and there is no law outside them to obey or disobey. If there is no such objective uniformity, then the law is a blunder on the part of those men of science who have formulated or accepted it. In science, then,

the term law has nothing whatever to do with an imperative or a command, backed by sanctions or not. To speak of natural phenomena as "obeying" certain laws is just loose thought or loose language influenced by legal analogy. (a) In the more complex biological and human sciences (including psychology, sociology and economics) the term law must be understood to denote the formulation of a certain general tendency rather than a rigid uni formity, in the sense of (I) above. It may be that such uniformi ties are actually operative under certain conditions, but the condi tions may be partly variable, and in any case, owing to the extreme complexity of the phenomena and the impossibility of studying them under sufficiently controlled and varied conditions, the laws actually formulated cannot be regarded as expressing uniformities, less still as expressing ideals or norms, in sense (3) below, but just certain general tendencies which are subject to modification with changing conditions. When people speak of "iron laws of eco nomics" they confound economic laws with the laws of mechanics ; and when they exploit them with a good conscience, they confound economic with moral laws. (3) In the so-called philosophical sciences, or normative sciences, logic, ethics and aesthetics, the term law is used rather in the sense of a regulative ideal or norm.

See J. S. MacKenzie, Manual of Ethics (1924). (A. Wo.)