Hart H. The Concept of Law

Oxford University Press, 1994. - 315 p.The Concept of Law is the most famous work of the legal philosopher H. L. A. Hart. It was first published in 1961 and develops Hart's theory of legal positivism (the view that laws are rules made by human beings and that there is no inherent or necessary connection between law and morality) within the framework of analytic philosophy. In this work, Hart sets out to write an essay of descriptive sociology and analytical jurisprudence. The Concept of Law provides an explanation to a number of traditional jurisprudential questions such as "what is law?", "must laws be rules?", and "what is the relation between law and morality?". Hart answers these by placing law into a social context while at the same time leaving the capability for rigorous analysis of legal terms. As a result Hart's view has remained one of the most influential in jurisprudence.