The Concept of Law. (FIRST EDITION.)

HART, H. L. A. [Herbert Lionel Adolphus] (1907-1992):

Published by Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961., 1961

About this Item

FIRST EDITION. Original cloth. Very Good+, in dust jacket. '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' (Clarendon Press Web site). 'With the publication of The Concept of Law in 1961, Hart's reputation was assured. Although some of the book built on themes from his debates with Lon Fuller and on his earlier writings about legal language, the book represented Hart's first comprehensive effort to understand the phenomenon of law from a philosophical perspective. This effort yielded numerous insights about the nature of rules, the structure and foundations of a legal system, the sources of law, and the character of legal obligation. It was Hart's lasting achievement, and although he also did pathbreaking work on the legal enforcement of morality, on causation, on Bentham, on the nature of authority, on punishment, and on various other topics, it is The Concept of Law that is his signal work. Indeed, it is The Concept of Law that explains why Hart can be the subject of a lengthy biography and why that lengthy biography can be the topic for an essay in the Harvard Law Review' (Frederick Schauer, '(Re)taking Hart', review of Nicola Lacey, A Life of H. L. A. Hart: The Nightmare and the Noble Dream, Oxford, 2004, Harvard Law Review, Vol. 119, 2006, pp. 852-883). Dworkin wrote a response to Schauer, 'Hart and the Concepts of Law' (Harvard Law Review, Issue 119, Jan. 2006, Forum 267).

Seller Inventory # 20937

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Concept of Law. (FIRST EDITION.)
• Publisher: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961.
• Publication Date: 1961
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine