there have been several attempts to produce "a universally acceptable definition of law". in 1972, baron hampstead suggested that no such definition could be produced. mccoubrey and white said that the question "what is law?" has no simple answer. glanville williams said that the meaning of the word "law" depends on the context in which that word is used. he said that, for example, "early customary law" and "municipal law" were contexts where the word "law" had two different and irreconcilable meanings. thurman arnold said that it is obvious that it is impossible to define the word "law" and that it is also equally obvious that the struggle to define that word should not ever be abandoned. it is possible to take the view that there is no need to define the word "law" (e.g. "let's forget about generalities and get down to cases").