Philosophy of Law Collected Essays Volume IV

by Finnis, John

• ISBN13: 9780199580088
• ISBN10: 0199580081
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-05-26
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

John Finnis has been a central figure in the fundamental re-shaping of legal philosophy over the past half-century. This volume of his Collected Essays shows the full range and power of his contributions to the philosophy of law. The volume collects nearly thirty papers: on the foundations of law's authority; major theories and theorists of law; legal reasoning; revolutions, rights and law; and the logic of law-making. The essays collected include Finnis' recent appreciations and root-and-branch critiques of Hart's legal and political theories, his engagements with other central figures and works in the field, including Dworkin'sLaw's Empire; Raz on authority and coordination; Coleman, Leiter and Gardner on legal positivism and naturalism; Aquinas as founder of legal positivism; Weber on the fact-value distinction and legitimation; Unger on indeterminacy in law; Posner on intention and economics; Kelsen and courts on revolutions; game-theory and rational-choice theory; with misinterpreters of Hohfeld on rights logic; John Paul II on voting for unjust laws; analogy's role in legal reasoning; the distribution of constitutional authority in the Empire and its dissolution; the judicial opportunism of separation of powers doctrine in the Australian constitution; the architecture of Blackstone's Commentaries; restitution in civil wrongs; and many other aspects of law and legal theory. Several papers bring to bear his extensive work as a constitutional adviser and lawyer on persistent problems of constitutional theory. Previously unpublished papers include two on critical or post-modern legal theory, and an introduction reflecting on legal philosophy's development and future.

Author Biography

John Finnis is Professor of Law and Legal Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of University College. He is the Biolchini Family Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations	p. ix
The Cover Picture	p. xi
Note	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Foundations of Law's Authority	p. 21
Describing Law Normatively (2003)	p. 23
Law's Authority and Social Theory's Predicament (1984)	p. 46
Law as Coordination (1989)	p. 66
Positivism and 'Authority' (1987)	p. 74
Theories and Theorists of Law	p. 89
A Grand Tour of Legal Theory (2002)	p. 91
Legal Philosophy: Roots and Recent Themes (1998)	p. 157
The Truth in Legal Positivism (1996)	p. 174
Blackstone's Theoretical Intentions (1967)	p. 189
Weber, Objectivity, and Legal-Rational Authority (1985)	p. 211
On Hart's Ways: Law as Reason and as Fact (2007)	p. 230
Hart as a Political Philosopher (2009)	p. 257
Reason and Authority in Law's Empire (1987)	p. 280
Critical Legal Studies (1985)	p. 299
'Legal Liberalism' or Liber et Legalis? (1986)	p. 320
Individuals, Communities, and Postmodernism: Some Notes (1995)	p. 327
Legal Reasoning	p. 335
Allocating Risks and Suffering: Some Hidden Traps (1990)	p. 337
Practical Reasoning in Law: Some Clarifications (1990)	p. 353
Rights: Their Logic Restated (1972)	p. 375
Analogical Reasoning in Law (1994)	p. 389
Adjudication and Legal Change (1999)	p. 397
The Two Senses of 'Legal System'	p. 405
Revolutions and Continuity of Law (1971)	p. 407
Just Votes for Unjust Laws (2004)	p. 436
Bibliography of the Works of John Finnis	p. 467
Other Works Cited	p. 479
Acknowledgements	p. 489
Index	p. 491
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