Fromthelawyer’spointofview，again，theimportanceisobvious。Healwayswishestoknowpreciselyatwhatpointthelawcanbebroughttobear。whetherarulewillbeenforcedbythecourts，orgenerallyUnderwhatcircumstancesacustomwillbeacceptedasalaw。Theanswernecessarilyleadstomuchlegalsubtlety。Thecustommaybetreatedasconstructivelyalaw。Thesovereignhasnotactuallymadenor’sanctioned’it；butvirtuehassomehowgoneoutofhimbyimplication，andhisrecognitionisequivalenttoimpositionoftherule。Thoughthe’sovereign’
hasnotreally’made’thelaw，hemaybeconsideredashavingmadeitbyametaphysicalfiction。InthisdirectionAustinbecomesthetwelfthcenturyschoolman，andhastosplithairstoforcehisdefinitionuponthefacts。Theinquiry，thoughnecessaryfromthelawyer’spointofview，becomesirrelevantfromthesociologist’s。Thesocialactionisthesame，whethertheruleobeyedbeacustomoralawstrictlysocalled。
Confusionthereforefollowswhenthequestionoflegalvalidityissubstitutedforthequestionofrealefficacy。Primitivesocietiesobeyimplicitlyavarietyofelaborate’laws’or’customs，’thoughtheyhavenoconceptionoflegislation。Theobediencetotheruleisinstinctive，andtheruleregardedasabsolutelyunalterable。Aresuchrules’laws’——thoughnotmadebyasovereign——ormere’customs，’thoughobeyedasstrictlyasthemosteffective’laws’？Austinanswersconsistentlythattheyarenotlawsatall。Therearepeople，hesays，in’astateofnature，’4*suchasthesavagesinNewHollandorNorthAmerica。
Theirlife，inHobbes’sfamousphrase，is’solitary，poor，nasty，brutish，andshort。’Theirlawscorrespondtomere’positivemoralityorthelawsetbypublicopinion，’whichisnecessarilysouncertainthatitcannotserveasacompleteguideofconduct，norcanitbesufficientlyminuteordetailed。5*Savages，itseems，formherdsnotsocieties，andmaybesimplyleftoutofconsiderationbythephilosophicaljurist。Austin，ofcourse。
couldnotbeexpectedtoanticipatemorerecentinvestigationsintoarchaicinstitutions；buthewasunluckyinthussummarilycondemningthembyanticipation。Inanycasethepositionindicatesanimportantgapinhissystem。Whatwasthelegalbondwhichconvertedtheherdsintopoliticalsocieties？Theproblemoftheformationofsocietyhadbeensolvednotbyhistoricalinquirybutbythe’socialcontracttheory。’AustinfollowsBenthamandHume。Theyhadshownconclusivelynotonlythatthecontractwasafigmenthistorically，butthatitcouldnotsupplywhatwaswanted。Itprofessedtoaddthesanctityofapromisetothesocialbond，whereasthesanctityofapromiseitselfrequiresexplanation。Thetheorysimplyamounted，asBenthamhadurged，toaroundaboutwayofintroducingutility。Anysortofcontract，asAustinurges，6*presupposesaformedpoliticalsociety。Clearlyitcannototherwisebeacontractinhissense——anobligationenforcedbyasanction——whenitisitselftobethefoundationofsovereigntyorsanctions。AustinthereforerejectscontemptuouslythedoctrineofnaturallawacceptedbyhisGermanteachers。Thetheorythatthereissomehoworotherabodyoflaw，deduciblebythepurereason，andyetcapableofoverridingordeterminingthe’lawproper，’ishisgreatexampleofontological’jargon’and’fustian。’Austin’sdiscipleshold7*thathismainservicetothephilosophyoflawwaspreciselyhisexposureofthefallacy。The’Natur-Recht’is’jargon。’Itismostdesirabletodiscussideallawasmeaningthelawwhichitwouldbeusefultoadopt；buttospeakasifithadalreadysometranscendentalrealityistoconfuse’ought’