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The goal of the thesis is to reconstruct Hart''''s legal theory which was influenced by the philosophy of ordinary language. We have known that Wittgenstein''''s theory of language game had much effect on Hart''''s legal theory ,but we don''''t know how.The goal of the thesis is to explain how Hart analyse the notion of law in the influence of Wittgenstein''''s theory. I think the idea of ''context'''' is the key concept here.Hart elucidate different notions of law in different contexts.That was why Rolf Sartorius distinguished four forms of the question ''What is law?'''':(1)What is a legal system?(2)What is a valid law?(3)What is the essence,or nature, of law? (4)What is a good reason for a judicial decision?In general context, that is lifeworld, we ask what law is, what a legal system, or what the essence, or nature, of law is.In specific contexts, those are special legal systems or primitive societies, we ask what ''the'''' law is. In the former contexts we ask what a valid law is, and in the latter we ask why a statement of obligation is possible.In more specific context, that is a concrete judicial situation , however, we ask what a good reason of judicial decision is. Like the notion of fimily-resemblance, we can''''t use any essential idea ,like the idea of validity, to analyse or elucidate the notion of law, because we don''''t have a transcontextual use of the word ''law''''.Validity, efficacy, acceptibity and etc. form ''a central set of elements'''' of law, but none of them is an essential element. Judicial discretion happens in a concrete judicial situation.Even though what a good reason of judicial decision is is a form of the question what law is, the general concept of law can''''t offer any criteria about what a good reason is.That is because different forms of the question ''what is law?'''' exist in different contexts which are different language games, and different rules control different contexts. ''The central set of elements'''' of law can only be seen from different points of view.The internal aspects oflaw, like the validity and acceptibility,are seen from the internal point of view, and the external aspects of law, like the efficacy and coersion, are seen from the external point of view.However, any different context in which the word ''law'''' can be properly used doesn''''t always exhaust all of these elements.
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