Description
Book SynopsisIn recent years we have witnessed major developments in philosophical inquiry concerning the nature of law and, with the continuing development of international and transnational legal institutions, in the phenomenon of law itself. This volume gathers leading writers in the field to take stock of current debates on the nature of law and the aims and methods of legal philosophy.The volume covers four broad themes. The essays within the first theme address and develop the traditional debates between legal positivism, natural law theory, and Dworkinian interpretivism. Papers within the second theme focus on the power of coercion, often overlooked in contemporary legal philosophy. The third set of papers addresses the aims and methods of legal theory, and the role of conceptual analysis. The final section explores new methods and issues in the subject, and offers fresh starting points for future work in the field. Gathering many leading and up-and-coming writers in the subject, the volume
Trade ReviewThe essays are of high quality and confront important issues in contemporary jurisprudence. * George Duke, Jurisprudence *
Overall, what may be gathered from this volume is a sense of the current state of analytical legal philosophy, as the collection samples works from some of the best theorists now writing in this area, both established names and up-and-coming younger scholars. In sharp contrast with critics' accusations that analytical legal theory today consists only of dry scholastic debates over trivial claims and distinctions, this volume displays lively, wide-ranging, and sophisticated arguments. There is every reason to be impressed with the present, and the future, of this approach to legal theory. * Brian Bix, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
Table of ContentsPart I. Furthering Debate Between the Leading Theories of Law 1: Mark C. Murphy: The Explanatory Indispensability of Weak Natural Law Theory 2: Matthew Kramer: In Defense of Hart 3: Kenneth Ehrenberg: Law's Authority Is Not a Claim to Preemption 4: Arie Rosen: The Normative Fallacy Regarding Law's Authority 5: Imer Flores: The Nature of Law and Legal Rationality: Towards an Integrative Jurisprudence Part II. The Power of Legal Systems 6: Bruno Celano: Law as Power: Two Rule of Law Requirements 7: Ken Himma: Hart and Austin Together Again for the First Time: Coercive Enforcement and the Theory of Legal Obligation 8: Robert Hughes: Law and the Entitlement to Coerce Part III. Conceptual Analysis 9: Andrei Marmor: Farewell to Conceptual Analysis (in Jurisprudence) 10: Natalie Stoljar: What Do We Want Law to Be? Philosophical Analysis and the Concept of Law Part IV. New Directions 11: David Enoch and Kevin Toh: Legal as a Thick Concept 12: Keith Culver and Michael Giudice: Making Old Questions New: Law, Legal System, and State 13: Giovanni Battista Ratti and Andrea Dolcetti: Legal Disagreements and the Dual Nature of Law 14: Dan Priel: One Right Answer? The Meta Edition
