Two Models of Law and Morality

Introduction
The debate on the relation between law and morality has been going on in jurisprudence for such a long time that one may wonder whether anything new could be added to it. Yet, paradoxically, it is unclear what precisely is the issue in the debate. According to H.L.A. Hart, positivists hold (and their opponents dispute) that there is no necessary connection between law and morality; law and morality can be separated. At first glance, this seems a simple thesis; David Lyons has shown, however, that this thesis is very ambiguous and that, in a minimal mterpretation ofthe separation thesis, almost every author, including Aquinas, Fuller and Dworkin, would support it. Therefore, it may be a good idea to seek a new perspective on the debate between positivists and non-positivists.