ABSTRACT
How does Fuller ’s allegory of the Case of the Speluncean Explorers reflect his general approach to the relationship between law and morality?
Fuller (1902-78) is a representative of the school of legal thought known as ‘purposive jurisprudence’ which sees the activities of the courts as reflecting the very purposes of the law, which turn upon the subjecting of human conduct to the control of ‘rules’. Law and morality are intertwined and, according to Fuller, a law which is totally divorced from morality ceases to be law. The facts of the Case of the Speluncean Explorers – an allegory based upon a fictitious hearing, set in the mythical future – should be given in some detail, and Fuller’s use of the judgments in the case should be noted as expressions of his views of the law-morality relationship. The following skeleton plan is suggested:
Introduction – Fuller and the ‘morality of law’ – facts of the Case of the Speluncean Explorers – the judgments – how the allegory underlines Fuller’s general thesis relating law and morality – conclusion, the allegory as representing a contribution to the thinking of jurists who see the need to search for a rapprochement between positivism and natural law.
