BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//Grails iCalendar plugin//NONSGML Grails iCalendar plugin//EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260605T044249Z DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20120420T150000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20120420T170000 SUMMARY:Law as an Artifact Kind UID:20260607T033147Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-bd7db559-gt5qm TZID:Australia/Melbourne LOCATION:Law School\, University of Melbourne\, Melbourne\, Australia DESCRIPTION:

Note: Please email lweis@unimelb.edu.au in advance for a copy of the paper.


Abstract:
It is commonly stated that law is an artifact\, but this claim is rarely explicitly defended. This article submits it to closer examination. I begin by asking whether law truly is an artifact\, as that term is understood in the philosophical literature. I argue that law is not straightforwardly covered by the most common definition of an artifact\, since not all laws have authors. However\, it is possible to extend the definition to include it. This extended definition also has the virtue of accommodating other unintentionally created artifacts that fall outside the standard account. I then develop an analysis of law as an artifact kind. I contend that law is best regarded as a special type of artifact\, which I call an institutional artifact. On this view\, something counts as law only if\, roughly\, it is collectively recognised as law and meets the success conditions for being law. The latter requirement entails that the putative law must be constitutively capable of fulfilling law&rsquo\;s function as an artifact. I argue that law&rsquo\;s function as an artifact is to guide action. A putative law that is not backed by sufficient reasons to enable it to guide action therefore fails as law.

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