Law: A Tool for Measuring Human Conduct and Socialization

Abstract

This article seeks to examine the meaning and content of law as perceived by some scholars to aid in the determination of whether the primary aim of law is to measure human conduct and facilitate socialization. Law is a phenomenon that has attracted several and diverse definitions from different schools of thoughts. As a social phenomenon its definition seems to be dependent and influenced by the socio-cultural experiences of the relevant proponent and thus subjective. This article critically examines various definitions of law, in a bid to unravel the true and proper meaning of law. It shows that law is not merely a tool for enforcing orders of the state or a superior being but primarily a tool for measuring human conduct and socialization.