Publisher Description

The eleven essays in Educating Oneself in Public: Critical Essays in Jurisprudence constitute an education in the Anglo-American jurisprudence of the second half of the twentieth century. The book examines both the thought of major figures such as H. L. A. Hart, Joseph Raz, Ronald Dworkin, Lon Fuller, and Richard Rorty, and the general themes of major movements such as legal realism, post-modernism, and pragmatism. Despite this focus on the thoughts ofothers the book is not a survey but is a critical probing of particular ideas often attributed to such figures. Detailed depth of understanding is sought about: Hart's conception of a`general jurisprudence' that describes law in general; Dworkin's conception of an `internal jurisprudence' that interprets the concept of law of our legal culture; Fuller's ideal of a `functional jurisprudence' that seeks the essence of law in the values it serves; the place of rules in legal and moral reasoning; Raz's idea that laws give `exclusionary reasons' to legal actors subject to such laws; how judges should reason, according to the legal realists; whether there are right answers to alldisputed law cases; whether behind the obvious law of legal rules there can exist an unobvious law of legal principles; Finnis's conception of the common good as the function law uniquely serves; inwhat sense law practice and legal theory are interpretive activities; whether all knowledge, or some discrete realm of knowledge, is peculiarly interpretive in character. Michael Moore's views on each of these topics are detailed and original, even if the springboards for each discussion are the writings of those who introduced such topics into modern discussions. The introductory chapter includes responses by many of the figures examined in the other essays, togetherwith the author's rejoinders.

Author Biography

Michael Moore is Leon Meltzer Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION1: OverviewPART 1 Legal Positivism2: Introduction to The Concept of Law3: Hart's Concluding Scientific Postscript4: The Three Concepts of Rules5: Authority, Law, and Razian ReasonsPART 2 LEGAL SCEPTICISM6: The Need for a Theory of Legal TheoriesPART 3 NATURAL LAW7: Legal Principles Revisited8: Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Legal Theory9: Law as a Functional KindPART 4 INTERPRETIVIST JURISPRUDENCE10: The Interpretive Turn in Modern Theory: A Turn for the Worse?11: Interpreting Interpretation

Long Description

The eleven essays in Educating Oneself in Public: Critical Essays in Jurisprudence constitute an education in the Anglo-American jurisprudence of the second half of the twentieth century. The book examines both the thought of major figures such as H. L. A. Hart, Joseph Raz, Ronald Dworkin, Lon Fuller, and Richard Rorty, and the general themes of major movements such as legal realism, post-modernism, and pragmatism. Despite this focus on the thoughts of
others the book is not a survey but is a critical probing of particular ideas often attributed to such figures. Detailed depth of understanding is sought about: Hart's conception of a `general jurisprudence' that describes law in general; Dworkin's conception of an `internal jurisprudence'
that interprets the concept of law of our legal culture; Fuller's ideal of a `functional jurisprudence' that seeks the essence of law in the values it serves; the place of rules in legal and moral reasoning; Raz's idea that laws give `exclusionary reasons' to legal actors subject to such laws; how judges should reason, according to the legal realists; whether there are right answers to all disputed law cases; whether behind the obvious law of legal rules there can exist an unobvious law of
legal principles; Finnis's conception of the common good as the function law uniquely serves; in what sense law practice and legal theory are interpretive activities; whether all knowledge, or some discrete realm of knowledge, is peculiarly interpretive in character. Michael
Moore's views on each of these topics are detailed and original, even if the springboards for each discussion are the writings of those who introduced such topics into modern discussions. The introductory chapter includes responses by many of the figures examined in the other essays, together with the author's rejoinders.

Review Text

INTRODUCTION 1. Overview PART 1 Legal Positivism 2. Introduction to The Concept of Law 3. Hart's Concluding Scientific Postscript 4. The Three Concepts of Rules 5. Authority, Law, and Razian Reasons PART 2 LEGAL SCEPTICISM 6. The Need for a Theory of Legal Theories PART 3 NATURAL LAW 7. Legal principles Revisited 8. Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Legal Theory 9. Law as a Functional Kind PART 4 INTERPRETIVIST JURISPRUDENCE 10. The Interpretive Turn in Modern Theory: A Turn for the Worse? 11. Interpreting Interpretation

Feature

In-depth exploration of the major themes of contemporary legal theory
Eleven critical essays on all the major figures in the subject including Hart, Dworkin, Raz, Finnis, etc

Details