Rather incredibly, many philosophers and legal theorists during the last two centuries have insisted that no such higher laws exist. These defenders of a position known as Legal Positivism would leave us with no recourse in the face of immoral laws. Some readers may remember the liberal senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee who were ready to deny a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court to Clarence Thomas for no other reason than that he had written some articles defending the reality of natural law.