Présentation de l'éditeur

More has been said about the Hart-Fuller debate than can be considered healthy or productive even within the precious world of jurisprudential scholarship – too much philosophising about how law has revelled in its own abstractness and narrowness. But the mission of this book is distinctly and determinedly different – it is not to rework these already-rehashed ideas, but to reject them entirely.

Rather than add to the massive jurisprudential literature that has been generated by all and sundry, the book criticises and abandons the project that Hart and Fuller set in motion. It contends that the turn that was taken in 1957 has led down a series of cul-de-sacs, blind alleys, and dead-ends to nowhere useful or illuminating. It is more than past time to leave their debate behind and strike out in an entirely new and more promising direction. The book insists that not only law, but also all theorising about law, is political in all its derivations, dimensions, and directions.

Sommaire

1. 1957 and All that: A Year of Living Jurisprudentially

A Holmesian Challenge
A Harvard Audience
A Principled Chorus
A Critical Turn
Conclusion

2. Looking Back and Forward: The Ground Zero of Legal Theory

Hart's Provocation
A Fuller Effort
And the Beat Goes On
A More Personal Appreciation
Only the Odious
Conclusion

3. A Philosophical State of Mind: The Local Limits of Analytical Truths

An Analytical Agenda
Failing Globally
Working Locally
Razzle-Dazzle
Ours and Everyone Else's
Going Global
Conclusion

4. Legality from a Positivist Outlook: Of Social Facts and Moral Fancies

The Positivist Project
The Facts of the Matter
Beyond All Recognition
Separation Anxiety
Soft and Hard Responses
Conclusion

5. From Validity to Legitimacy: Exploring Law's Morality

Morality, Values and Other Judgments
A Procedural Hedge
A More Substantive Turn
Positivists as Moral Critics
Taking a Pragmatic Stand
Conclusion

6. Breaking Bad: From Validity to Legitimacy

Beyond Validity
Giving Orders
On the Edges
Keeping Up Appearances
The Hall of Shame
Conclusion

7. Keeping Active: Law as Practice

Here's the Thing
A Social Activity
A Common Dilemma
Purely Working
A Less Godly Practice
Conclusion

8. Looking for Solid Ground: The Elusive Search for Interpretive Certitude

Of Penumbras and Paintings
A Fuller Tradition
Mixing and Matching
On the Dark Side?
A Political Reckoning
Conclusion

9. Keeping the Faith: Law, Obedience and Compliance

Introducing the Bad Man
Showing an Interest
An Obliging Approach
Slouching Towards Evil
A Revolting Possibility
Conclusion

10. Legal Theory on the Move: A Never-Ending Inquiry

The Debate that Never Dies
An Economic Turn
The Dworkinian Gambit
A Critical Slant
Up, Down and Sideways
Conclusion