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.
"Strikingly bold and original."--Juridical Review (on the previous edition).
Continues to spark debate within the area of legal philosophy, offering the same clarity and candor as with
the first edition
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
