JURISPRUDENCE EXAMPREP UPDATED
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
SOLUTIONS
●● What does Legal Positivism say about the relationship between law
and morality?
Answer: Law is separate from morality; a law can be unjust but still
valid.
●● Who is considered the foundation of sovereignty in legal positivism?
Answer: Jean Bodin.
●● What is Bodin's key idea about sovereignty?
Answer: Sovereignty is absolute and perpetual.
●● What does Hobbes believe is necessary to avoid chaos?
Answer: A strong sovereign.
●● What is Bentham's view on natural rights?
Answer: Natural rights are 'nonsense upon stilts' and law should
maximize happiness.
,●● What is the focus of Hart's legal theory?
Answer: Rules about rules and legal systems.
●● What does Austin define law as?
Answer: The command of a sovereign backed by sanctions.
●● What is the primary source of law according to Bodin?
Answer: A sovereign ruler.
●● How does Hobbes view the role of morality?
Answer: Morality depends on the sovereign.
●● What is Bentham's perspective on the purpose of law?
Answer: Law should maximize happiness.
●● What does legal positivism reject?
Answer: The idea that law comes from God or must be morally right.
●● What is the significance of sovereignty in legal positivism?
Answer: There must be a final authority that creates and enforces law.
●● What does Hart criticize in command theory?
,Answer: The simplistic view of law as merely commands from a
sovereign.
●● What is the relationship between law as it is and law as it ought to be
in positivism?
Answer: Positivism studies law as it is (descriptive), not law as it should
be (normative).
●● What does the quote 'The existence of law is one thing; its merit is
another' suggest?
Answer: Law can exist independently of its moral value.
●● What are the core tenets of Legal Positivism?
Answer: 1. Law is separate from morality. 2. Law comes from a
recognized authority. 3. Validity depends on source, not content. 4. Law
is a system of rules. 5. Emphasis on enforceability. 6. Rejection of
natural law theory. 7. Sovereignty is central.
●● What is the main idea behind Hobbes' social contract theory?
Answer: People create government for security and to avoid chaos.
●● How does Bentham's felicific calculus relate to law?
Answer: It emphasizes that law should focus on maximizing pleasure
and minimizing pain.
, ●● What is the significance of Jean Bodin in the context of legal
positivism?
Answer: He developed one of the earliest theories of sovereignty,
emphasizing the state's absolute authority.
●● What does the quote 'Sovereignty is absolute and perpetual' imply?
Answer: The sovereign has ultimate authority over law without external
constraints.
●● What distinguishes legal positivism from natural law theory?
Answer: Positivism asserts that law is valid based on its source, not its
moral content.
●● What does the term 'sovereign' refer to in legal positivism?
Answer: The ultimate authority that creates and enforces laws.
●● What is the relationship between law and human authority according
to Bodin?
Answer: The sovereign is not bound by any human authority or laws of
their own realm.
●● What does the quote 'Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'
signify in Hobbes' philosophy?
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
SOLUTIONS
●● What does Legal Positivism say about the relationship between law
and morality?
Answer: Law is separate from morality; a law can be unjust but still
valid.
●● Who is considered the foundation of sovereignty in legal positivism?
Answer: Jean Bodin.
●● What is Bodin's key idea about sovereignty?
Answer: Sovereignty is absolute and perpetual.
●● What does Hobbes believe is necessary to avoid chaos?
Answer: A strong sovereign.
●● What is Bentham's view on natural rights?
Answer: Natural rights are 'nonsense upon stilts' and law should
maximize happiness.
,●● What is the focus of Hart's legal theory?
Answer: Rules about rules and legal systems.
●● What does Austin define law as?
Answer: The command of a sovereign backed by sanctions.
●● What is the primary source of law according to Bodin?
Answer: A sovereign ruler.
●● How does Hobbes view the role of morality?
Answer: Morality depends on the sovereign.
●● What is Bentham's perspective on the purpose of law?
Answer: Law should maximize happiness.
●● What does legal positivism reject?
Answer: The idea that law comes from God or must be morally right.
●● What is the significance of sovereignty in legal positivism?
Answer: There must be a final authority that creates and enforces law.
●● What does Hart criticize in command theory?
,Answer: The simplistic view of law as merely commands from a
sovereign.
●● What is the relationship between law as it is and law as it ought to be
in positivism?
Answer: Positivism studies law as it is (descriptive), not law as it should
be (normative).
●● What does the quote 'The existence of law is one thing; its merit is
another' suggest?
Answer: Law can exist independently of its moral value.
●● What are the core tenets of Legal Positivism?
Answer: 1. Law is separate from morality. 2. Law comes from a
recognized authority. 3. Validity depends on source, not content. 4. Law
is a system of rules. 5. Emphasis on enforceability. 6. Rejection of
natural law theory. 7. Sovereignty is central.
●● What is the main idea behind Hobbes' social contract theory?
Answer: People create government for security and to avoid chaos.
●● How does Bentham's felicific calculus relate to law?
Answer: It emphasizes that law should focus on maximizing pleasure
and minimizing pain.
, ●● What is the significance of Jean Bodin in the context of legal
positivism?
Answer: He developed one of the earliest theories of sovereignty,
emphasizing the state's absolute authority.
●● What does the quote 'Sovereignty is absolute and perpetual' imply?
Answer: The sovereign has ultimate authority over law without external
constraints.
●● What distinguishes legal positivism from natural law theory?
Answer: Positivism asserts that law is valid based on its source, not its
moral content.
●● What does the term 'sovereign' refer to in legal positivism?
Answer: The ultimate authority that creates and enforces laws.
●● What is the relationship between law and human authority according
to Bodin?
Answer: The sovereign is not bound by any human authority or laws of
their own realm.
●● What does the quote 'Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'
signify in Hobbes' philosophy?
