The Concept of Law
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
The Concept of Law
| Author | H. L. A. Hart |
|---|---|
| Published | 1961 |
| Pages | 263 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | H. L. A. Hart’s account of what law is: against the older command theory, a legal system is a union of primary rules telling people what to do and secondary rules about how rules are made, changed and applied, with a “rule of recognition” accepted by officials at the base. The twentieth century’s standard statement of legal positivism — separating what the law is from whether it is just. |
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — on his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, March 2026, in the section on Law and Legal Theory, as the account of legal authority the section’s other entries argue with. The full 211-entry list is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
About this edition
The standard edition includes Hart’s postscript on his long argument with Dworkin.
Connections
- Institutions — law as the institution Hart is analysing.
- Government — the authority whose rules the book accounts for.
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the list this came from.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.