Law and Social Control

Abstract

We have shown in the first chapter how some aspects of regularised social phenomena can be explained in terms of rule-following, and we have outlined the ways in which rules differ from commands and predictions. In this chapter we have to consider in some detail that special form of social control which we understand as legal control. Undoubtedly a legal system is a specialised system of rules, distinct from moral rules, which at the very least provides a framework in which individual behaviour can in some sense be regulated and an element of certainty guaranteed, and which at the very most may provide a comprehensive framework of regulations covering nearly all aspects of the individual’s life. Just how desirable it is for the law to enter a wide area of social life is something which will be considered later, but the elementary facts of human nature seem to indicate the necessity for some rules, many of which are bound to be backed by organised sanctions.