Description
Book SynopsisJohn Finnis has been a central figure in the fundamental re-shaping of legal philosophy over the past half-century. This volume of his Collected Essays shows the full range and power of his contributions to the philosophy of law. The volume collects over twenty papers: on the foundations of law''s authority; major theories and theorists of law; legal reasoning; revolutions, rights and law; and the logic of law-making. The essays collected include Finnis'' recent appreciations and root-and-branch critiques of Hart''s legal and political theories, his engagements with other central figures and works in the field, including Dworkin''s Law''s Empire; Raz on authority and coordination; Coleman, Leiter and Gardner on legal positivism and naturalism; Aquinas as founder of legal positivism; Weber on the fact-value distinction and legitimation; Unger on indeterminacy in law; Posner on intention and economics; Kelsen and courts on revolutions; game-theory and rational-choice theory; with misinte
Trade ReviewFinnis offers a distinctive perspective on legal theory. Matyas Bodig, Jurisprudence
Table of ContentsIntroduction ; FOUNDATIONS OF LAW'S AUTHORITY ; 1. Describing Law Normatively ; 2. Law's Authority and Social Theory's Predicament ; 3. Law as Coordination ; 4. Positivism and 'Authority' ; GRAND THEORIES AND THEORISTS OF LAW ; 5. A Grand Tour of Legal Theory ; 6. Legal Philosophy: Roots and Recent Themes ; 7. The Truth in Legal Positivism ; 8. Blackstone's Theoretical Intentions ; 9. Weber, Objectivity, and Legal-Rational Authority ; 10. On Hart's Ways: Law as Reason and as Fact ; 11. Hart as a Political Philosopher ; 12. Reason and Authority in Law's Empire ; 13. Critical Legal Studies ; 14. Legal Liberalism or Liber et Legalis? ; 15. Individuals, Communities, and Postmodernism: Some Notes ; LEGAL REASONING ; 16. Allocating Risks and Suffering: Some Hidden Traps ; 17. Practical Reasoning in Law: Some Clarifications ; 18. Rights: Their Logic Restated ; 19. Analogical Reasoning in Law ; 20. Adjudication and Legal Change ; THE TWO SENSES OF 'LEGAL SYSTEM' ; 21. Revolutions and Continuity of Law ; 22. Just Votes for Unjust Laws ; Bibliography of the Works of John Finnis
