LEGALLY BINDING AND EXTRA-LEGAL REFERENCES TO MORALITY MORALITY

ABSTRACT. Soper derives moral requirements on legal validity from a theory of the nature of law. Dworhin holds if we look closely at courts' reasoning, we will often find them relying on moral judgment; the law is nothing more or less than any valid reason for a court's decision (morality is part of the law). Within ethics, Kant draws a motivational distinction between "morality" and mere "legality", the latter of which can be easily confused with the "legality" and laws discussed in political philosophy.