The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Law provides a comprehensive, non-technical philosophical treatment of the fundamental questions about the nature of law. Its coverage includes law's relation to morality and the moral obligations to obey the law, the main philosophical debates about particular legal areas such as criminal responsibility, property, contracts, family law, law and justice in the international domain, legal paternalism and the rule of law.
The entirely new content has been written specifically for newcomers to the field, making the volume particularly useful for undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy of law and related areas. All 39 chapters, written by the world's leading researchers and edited by an internationally distinguished scholar, bring a focused, philosophical perspective to their subjects. The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Law promises to be a valuable and much consulted student resource for many years.
Reviews
"Written by a veritable Who's Who of internationally renowned scholars in the field, this volume is bound to be of tremendous use to anyone seeking expert guidance on the wide variety of topics covered within its pages. A truly excellent collection." –Russ Shafer-Landau, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"This is an exciting volume of new pieces in the philosophy of law. I teach in this area even though it is not a specialty of mine. For my purposes, Marmor has chosen an ideal set of important and active topics, along with top authors drawn from across legal and political philosophy. I'm thrilled to have these available both for my own studies and for use in my courses." –David Estlund, Brown University
"This is a first-class collection: it offers original works from many of the best people now writing in philosophy of law; I am very impressed by the scope of topics covered and the quality of the contributions."-Brian H. Bix, University of Minnesota
"ume contains a star-studded cast of contributors and provides a treasure trove for those who teach philosophy of law." –James W. Nickel, University of Miami
"The aim of the book is to provide, in our opinion, thoughtful, scholarly, precisely analytical, yet clearly expressed examinations of an amazingly wide range of jurisprudential issues which lie within the purview of ‘philosophy of law’." – Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor, Richmond Green Chambers
Contents
Part I: Theories About the Nature of Law 1.1 The Nature of Law: An Introduction Andrei Marmor 1.2 Natural Law Theory: Its Past and Its Present John Finnis 1.3 Legal Positivism: Early Foundations Gerald J. Postema 1.4 Legal Positivism: Contemporary Debates Julie Dickson 1.5 The Authority of Law Scott Hershovitz 1.6 Obligations, Interpretivism, and the Legal Point of View Nicos Stavropoulos Part II: Legal Reasoning 2.1 Vagueness and the Law Scott Soames 2.2 Legal Interpretation Timothy Endicott 2....
