A Solution to the Paradox of the Just Law

Abstract According to the paradox of the just law, just laws do not create moral duties, even under the assumption that the law generally creates duties. Raz argues that this paradox arises in relation to laws which are both just and to which an independent moral obligation is attached, but his treatment of the issue is brief. In this paper, I offer a reconstruction of Raz’s argument. I argue that the argument is sound under what I term the “compliance conception” of the duty to obey just laws but fails under the “conformity conception” of that duty. I then present several reasons supporting the conformity conception. By distinguishing between these two conceptions and arguing that the conformity conception is correct, I solve the paradox of the just law.