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The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law Series)

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The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law Series)

by H. L. A. Hart
from Oxford University Press, USA

 
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Editorial Review

First published in 1961, The Concept of Law is the most important and original work of legal philosophy written this century. 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 1980s mounted a series of challenges to Hart's The Concept of Law. It seemed that Hart let these challenges go unanswered. However, 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 and 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 The Concept of Law, this thought-provoking and persuasively argued volume is essential reading for lawyers and philosophers throughout the world.


Customer Reviews:

  • Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0 Rating
  • Law Students Rating
    A must-read for any and all law students (along with Dworkin's "Law's Empire"). Both are pre-eminent jurisprudence scholars of the 20th century.
  • A good start for analytical jurisprudence, but no more Rating
    Hart takes apart the legal positivism of Austin and acknowledges some validity in natural law theory. But Hart fails to connect the "minimum content of natural law" with his analysis of a "rule of recongition" that allows a legal system to exist.
    Hart's critique of Austin's legal positivism is right on and rightly consigns it to the dust bin as a way of explaining all manifestations of the phenomenon of law. Law as a threat backed up by force simply cannot explain contracts, wills, and trusts. The law... more info
  • Obligatory reading. Rating
    One of the highest achievements in the history of jurisprudence. Simple to read, complex to thoroughly grasp, written in clear prose but full of ideas. Previous familiarity with Kelsen and Austin should prove helpful to extract the most out of this book. You can follow it by reading Dworkin and Bobbio (sadly unavailable in English - his Teoria della norma giuridica and Teoria dell'ordenamento giuridico are as obligatory as Kelsen and Hart).

    Even though it is a work of legal positivism, it contains one of... more info

  • a seminal text on legal philosophy and jurisprudence Rating
    One of the most important books written in the field of jurisprudence and legal philosophy. A must-read for anyone who wants to talk intelligently about the topic. Each of Dr. Hart's chapters has been the springboard for entire areas of discussion since its publication, such as law as a system of rules, the separation of law and morality, etc. After you finish this book, read Prof. Dworkin's critique in "The Model of Rules," 35 Univ.Chi.L.Rev. 14 (1967) (excerpted in "The Philosophy of Law") and Prof.... more info

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