On The History Of The Idea Of Law

Description

On the History of the Idea of Law is the first book ever to trace the development of the philosophical theory of law from its first appearance in Plato's writings to today. Professor Letwin finds important and positive insights and tensions in the theories of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Hobbes. She finds confusions and serious errors introduced by Cicero, Aquinas, Bentham, and Marx. She harnesses the insights of H. L. A. Hart and especially Michael Oakeshott to mount a devastating attack on the late twentieth-century theories of Ronald Dworkin, the Critical Legal Studies movement, and feminist jurisprudence. In all of this, Professor Letwin finds the rule of law to be the key to modern liberty and the standard of justice. This is the final work of the distinguished historian and theorist Shirley Robin Letwin, a major figure in the revival of Conservative thought and doctrine from 1960 onwards, who died in 1993. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 2 Title - Full......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Editor's preface......Page 8 Introduction: The idea of law......Page 12 Part I - Law anchored to a cosmic order......Page 18 1 - Plato......Page 20 2 - Aristotle......Page 32 3 - Cicero......Page 53 Part II - The Christian revision......Page 68 4 - St. Augustine......Page 70 5 - St. Thomas Aquinas......Page 80 Part III - The modern quest......Page 100 6 - Thomas Hobbes......Page 102 7 - John Locke......Page 119 8 - Immanuel Kant......Page 146 9 - Jeremy Bentham......Page 164 Part IV - The significance of rules......Page 194 10 - From historical jurisprudence to Realism: Savigny, Jhering, Duguit, Holmes, Gray, Frank......Page 196 11 - The defense of rules: Edward Levi, Hans Kelsen, H. L. A. Hart......Page 211 Part V - The idea of law repudiated......Page 230 12 - Marxist theories......Page 232 13 - Political jurisprudence I: From Realism to feminist jurisprudence......Page 258 14 - Political jurisprudence II: Ronald Dworkin......Page 287 Part VI - New foundations......Page 316 15 - A skeptical jurisprudence: Michael Oakeshott......Page 318 16 - Postscript: Morality, individualism, and law......Page 337 Index......Page 358