Law as a Leap of Faith: Essays on Law in GeneralHow do laws resemble rules of games, moral rules, personal rules, rules found in religious teachings, school rules, and so on? Are laws rules at all? Are they all made by human beings? And if so how should we go about interpreting them? How are they organized into systems, and what does it mean for these systems to have 'constitutions'? Should everyone want to live under a system of law? Is there a special kind of 'legal justice'? Does it consist simply in applying the law of the system? And how does it relate to the ideal of 'the rule of law'? These and other classic questions in the philosophy of law form the subject-matter of Law as a Leap of Faith. In this book John Gardner collects, revisits, and supplements fifteen years of celebrated writings on general questions about law and legal systems - writings in which he attempts, without loss of philosophical finesse or insight, to cut through some of the technicalities with which the subject has become encrusted in the late twentieth century. Taking his agenda broadly from H.L.A. Hart's The Concept of Law (1961), Gardner shows how the key ideas in that work live on, and how they have been and can still be improved in modest ways to meet important criticisms - in some cases by concession, in some cases by circumvention, and in some cases by restatement. In the process Gardner engages with key ideas of other modern giants of the subject including Kelsen, Holmes, Raz, and Dworkin. Most importantly he presents the main elements of his own unique and refreshingly direct way of thinking about law, brought together in one place for the first time. |
Contents
1 Law as a Leap of Faith | 1 |
5½ Myths | 19 |
3 Some Types of Law | 54 |
4 Can There be a Written Constitution? | 89 |
5 How Law Claims What Law Claims | 125 |
6 Nearly Natural Law | 149 |
7 The Legality of Law | 177 |
8 The Supposed Formality of the Rule of Law | 195 |
9 Hart on Legality Justice and Morality | 221 |
10 The Virtue of Justice and the Character of Law | 238 |
11 Law in General | 270 |
303 | |
313 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actions adjudication allocative apply artefacts authority central Concept of Law connection between law constitutional law courts customary law delegated distinctive Dworkin example existence explain fact faith Finnis formal Fuller genre God’s commands Grundnorm H.L.A. Hart Hart’s hence human Ibid ideal of legality inner morality institutions interpretation Joseph Raz judges judicial Jurisprudence Kelsen law and morality Law Oxford Law Review law-applying officials law-making law’s claim Law’s Empire lawyers legal norms legal positivism legal positivists legal rules legal system legal validity legislated law means merits moral ideal moral norms moral obligation morality of law natural law nature of law necessary connection Neil MacCormick one’s ossobuco Parliament philosophical position possible powers problem question rational regard regulate relevant Ronald Dworkin rule of law rule of recognition sense social source-based Theory thesis things tution UK constitution ultimate rules virtue written constitution