Hart, H. L. A. (Herbert Lionel Adolphus) creator text Oxford Oxford university press 1961 2nd ed. monographic xii, 315 p. : 22 cm. I. Persistent Questions 1. Perplexities of legal theory 2. Three recurrent issues 3. Definition II. Laws, Commands, and Orders 1. Varieties of imperatives 2. Law as coercive orders III. The Variety of Law 1. The content of law 2. The range of application 3. Modes of origin IV. Sovereign and Subject 1. The habit of obedience and the continuity of law 2. The persistence of law 3. Legal limitations on legislative power 4. The sovereign behind the legislature V. Law as the Union of Primary and Secondary Rules 1. A fresh start 2. The idea of obligation 3. The elements of law VI. The Foundations of a Legal System 1. Rule of recognition and legal validity 2. New questions 3. The pathology of a legal system VII. Formalism and Rule-Scepticism 1. The open texture of law 2. Varieties of rule-scepticism 3. Finality and infallibility in judicial decision 4. Uncertainty in the rule of recognition VIII. Justice and Morality 1. Principles of justice 2. Moral and legal obligation 3. Moral ideals and social criticism IX. Laws and Morals 1. Natural law and legal positivism 2. The minimum content of natural law 3. Legal validity and moral value X. International Law 1. Sources of doubt 2. Obligations and sanctions 3. Obligation and the sovereignty of states 4. International law and morality 5. Analogies of form and content Postscript Introductory 1. The Nature of Legal Theory 2. The Nature of Legal Positivism (i) Positivism as a semantic theory (ii) Positivism as an interpretive theory (iii) Soft positivism 3. The Nature of Rules (i) The practice theory of rules (ii) Rules and principles 4. Principles and the Rule of Recognition Pedigree and interpretation 5. Law and Morality (i) Rights and duties (ii) The identification of the law 6. Judicial Discretion / H. L. A. Hart Includes index eng. Law philosophy Jurisprudence methodology Jurisprudence Law 340.1 HAR 0195664175 MCCL 20251008065127.0 eng.