The Concept of Law

by Hart, H. L. A.; Raz, Joseph; Bulloch, Penelope

• ISBN13: 9780198761228
• ISBN10: 0198761228
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-11-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Concept of Law is the most important and original work of legal philosophy written this century. First published in 1961, it is considered the masterpiece of H.L.A. Hart's enormous contribution to the study of jurisprudence and legal philosophy. Its elegant language and balanced arguments have sparked wide debate and unprecedented growth in the quantity and quality of scholarship in this area--much of it devoted to attacking or defending Hart's theories. Principal among Hart's critics is renowned lawyer and political philosopher Ronald Dworkin who in the 1970s and 80s mounted a series of challenges to Hart's Concept of Law. It seemed that Hart let these challenges go unanswered until, after his death in 1992, his answer to Dworkin's criticism was discovered among his papers. In this valuable and long-awaited new edition Hart presents an Epilogue in which he answers Dworkin and some of his other most influential critics including Fuller and Finnis. Written with the same clarity and candor for which the first edition is famous, the Epilogue offers a sharper interpretation of Hart's own views, rebuffs the arguments of critics like Dworkin, and powerfully asserts that they have based their criticisms on a faulty understanding of Hart's work. Hart demonstrates that Dworkin's views are in fact strikingly similar to his own. In a final analysis, Hart's response leaves Dworkin's criticisms considerably weakened and his positions largely in question. Containing Hart's final and powerful response to Dworkin in addition to the revised text of the original Concept of Law, this thought-provoking and persuasively argued volume is essential reading for lawyers and philosophers throughout the world.

Author Biography

About the Author:
H.L.A. Hart was formerly Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University, Principal of Brasenose College, and Fellow of University College.
About the Editors:
Joseph Raz and Penelope Bulloch are both Professors at Balliol College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

Persistent Questions

Laws, Commands, and Orders

The Variety of Laws

Sovereign and Subject

Law as the Union of Primary and Secondary Rules

The Foundations of a Legal System

Formalism and Rule-Scepticism

Justice and Morality

Laws and Morals

International Law

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