Attitude Theories of Law
A law is a general statement which we take to have special
properties. Either it is supported by examination of its instances,
or it supports counterfactuals, or both. The statement has these
properties because we think it does, and the status of a statement
can change if we change our opinions.
Literature
Goodman 1954 provides a
strong version of this account.
Problems
The main problem is that, on this account, it is up to us whether
F=ma is a law of nature or not. Many people think that this is
false, and even if it is true in some sense, it doesn't seem to be
as simple as this account makes it.
Copyright David Chart 1998