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Title: The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law Series) by H. L. A. Hart ISBN: 0-19-876123-6 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A good start for analytical jurisprudence, but no more
Comment: Some say it is one of the classics of the 20th century. It is certainly lucid in presentation and was novel in its time. 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 very good. Positivism fails to acknowledge the "internal" aspect of legal rules as well as failing to give an account of how law is recognized, clarified, and changed. Hart posits a "rule of recongition" to take care of this. Hart acknowledges a "minimum content of natural law" that explains the purpose of law as responding to certain human needs (bodily vulnerability, limited altruism, etc.). This gave rise to the revival of natural law theory in Anglophone jurisprudence in the 20th century. But Hart just kind of sticks the natural law chapter in his book without saying how it connects to the rest of what he says about legal rules and systems. Look at Finnis' Natural Law and Natural Rights for the "extension" of Hart's project.
I did not read the last chapter on international law. What I said above I learned in class lectures from Charles Larmore.
Rating: 5
Summary: Obligatory reading.
Comment: 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 the best analyses of natural law and ethics I have ever read. This is, much more than the elements it's most famous for (the distinction between primary and secondary rules), what makes The Concept of Law shine.
The postscript, also sold separetely at Amazon, is included in this second edition of the book.
Rating: 5
Summary: a seminal text on legal philosophy and jurisprudence
Comment: 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. Dworkin's "Taking Rights Seriously" to see how Hart's theories have affect jurisprudential scholarship since the publication of this text in 1961. Again, if one had to select the top thinkers in the field, it's Austin, Hart, and Dworkin.
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Title: Law's Empire by Ronald Dworkin ISBN: 0674518365 Publisher: Belknap Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1988 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Taking Rights Seriously by Ronald Dworkin ISBN: 0674867114 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1978 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Morality of Law (Storrs Lectures on Jurisprudence) by Lon L. Fuller ISBN: 0300010702 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1977 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Natural Law and Natural Rights (Clarendon Law Series) by John Finnis ISBN: 0198761104 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1980 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: A Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory by Dennis Patterson ISBN: 0631213295 Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Pub. Date: 01 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $36.95 |
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