Modern Jurisprudence: A Philosophical Guide (Second Edition)

by Sean Coyle

Overview

The second edition of this book provides a concise and accessible guide to modern jurisprudence, offering an examination of the major theories as well as highlighting principal themes such as legality and justice. Together with new material, the second edition explores the historical developments and ideas that give modern thinking its distinctive shape. A key feature of the book is that readers are not simply presented with opposing theories, but are guided through the rival standpoints on the basis of a coherent line of reflection from which an overall sense of the subject can be gained. Chapters on Hart, Fuller, Rawls, Dworkin, and Finnis, and a new chapter on Acquinas, take the reader systematically through the terrain of modern legal philosophy, tracing the issues back to fundamental questions of philosophy, and indicating lines of criticism that result in a fresh and original perspective on the subject. [Subject: Legal Philosophy, Jurisprudence]

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509905614
Publisher:	Hart Publishing UK
Publication date:	10/05/2017
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Sean Coyle is Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Birmingham.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition vii

Preface to the First Edition ix

1 Justice, Law and History 1

Morality 4

History 7

Law 11

Situating Jurisprudence 16

Part 1 Foundations

2 Origins of the Western Jurisprudential Tradition 21

A Basic Division 23

Aristotelian Political Thought 30

The Abandonment of Aristotle 34

Suggested Reading 37

3 Jurisprudence: The Classical Tradition 39

Positive Law 40

Natural Law 42

The Relationship Between Natural Law and Positive Law 46

Justice and Determination 49

Human Knowledge of Natural Law 50

Suggested Reading 52

4 The Emergence of 'Modern' Political Thought 53

Hobbes's View of the Human Condition 54

Law and Society 59

The Political Context of Leviathan 62

A Divided Inheritance 67

Suggested Reading 70

5 Images of Law from Grotius to Kant 72

Grotius as a Natural Lawyer 75

A New Framework 79

Suggested Reading 90

Part 2 Debates

6 Positive Law, Positive Justice: Hart 93

The Basic Dimensions of Hart's Positivism 99

The Nature of Law 104

Law and Morality 110

Natural Law 112

Justice and Equality 118

Suggested Reading 123

7 Justice in the 'Real World': Dworkin 125

The Philosopher-Judge 127

Gould the Law be an Expression of Something Other than 'Integrity'? 136

Objectivity, Truth and Scepticism 146

Philosopher-Kings and Philosopher-Judges 148

Suggested Reading 149

8 Justice and the Liberal State: Rawls 151

Rational Reflection, and Questions of Method 154

The Problem of Justice 158

The First Principle of Justice 164

The Second Principle 168

The Basic Structure in Context 174

Suggested Reading 176

9 Justice and the Common Good: Finnis 177

Introducing the Political Philosophy 177

The Basic Goods 181

The Status of Practical Reasonableness 186

Order, Community and Justice 188

Justice and Rights 201

The Overall Direction of Finnis's Account 207

Suggested Reading 209

10 Justice and Legality: Fuller 211

Legality and Justice 212

Justice and the Institutional Reality of Law 222

Eunomics: The Theory of Good Order 227

The Direction of Fuller's Thought 232

Suggested Reading 235

11 Justice and Legal Order: Further Reflections 237

Natural Right and Natural Law 237

The Origin of the Law's Authority 245

Legal Order and Positive Law 251

Summing Up 256

Suggested Reading 258

12 Conclusions? 259

Index 265