A Life of H. L. A. Hart: The Nightmare and the Noble Dream
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.61 (959 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0199274975 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 444 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-03-11 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
As a scholar he single-handedly reinvented the philosophy of law and revolutionized our understanding of law as a social institution. H.L.A. This book is both an intellectual and a psychological biography, following his life from modest origins as the son of Jewish tailor parents in Yorkshire to worldwide fame as the most influential English-speaking legal theorist of the post-War era. Above all, it is a chronicle of a life which made an impact far greater than many of us realize.. Nicola Lacey draws upon Hart's previously unpublished diaries and letters to reveal a complex interior life. Outwardly successful, Hart was in fact tormented by doubts about his intellectual abilities, his sexual identity and his capacity to form close relationships. Austin and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Her biography also sheds fascinating light on the origins of his ideas, and assesses his overall contribution to the philosophy of law. He sought to elucidate a concept of law that would be of relevance to
Lacey's biography of the greatest legal philosopher since Jeremy Bentham is worthy of its illustrious subject. We end up learning as much about secondary rules in the law as we learn about wartime espionage and the lucid prose of this biography makes them both into an enjoyable and profitable experience.' Jeremy Waldron, Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law and Philosophy, Columbia University . Lacey has a remarkable ability to explain both the intellectual issues, his ideas about them, and the objections that have been raised by his
Nicola Lacey is Professor of Criminal Law and Legal Theory at the London School of Economics and Adjunct Professor of Social and Political Theory at the Research School of Social Sciences of the Australian National University. She is a Fellow of the British Academy.
Five Stars Wes Rann Swinfen Brilliant and engaging biography. Superb work.. A Massive Void Filled at Last Ronald H. Clark For far too long there has not been a full-scale biography of H.L.A. Hart, author of "The Concept of Law." That gap has now been eliminated by this superb biography by Nicola Lacey of LSE. And this is a biography, and not an "intellectual biography" (such as Duxbury's masteful book on Frederick Pollock)which focuses primarily upon the subject's writings and theories--a. "Suprisingly, a great read" according to Lawprof. Let me begin by saying that I have no connection at all to the author of this book (I feel such disclaimers are needed on Amazon.com). I picked up this book because, as a law professor, I wanted a bit of biographical background on H.L.A. Hart, perhaps the most important legal philosopher of the 20th century. Hart's writings are dense and hard even for experts to unders