The tigerish nature of legal normativity

This response to Brian Bix’s recent article on legal normativity considers the potential benefits of Bix’s approach in the light of contemporary debate upon the subject but argues for an alternative approach that focuses on the finding of legal normativity within a specific system of law and recognizes a normativity for those subject to that law whether they are well disposed to it or not. Three different ways in which a quality of normativity might be found for a legal provision concerning the conduct of a person are distinguished, so offering a richer and more illuminating analysis of the individual subject’s attitude or choice towards legal normativity. However, it is claimed that the overall picture advanced here supports a simple view of legal normativity, avoiding entanglement with moral controversies and complex theoretical speculations.