I LAW AND NATURE i. The "Pure" Theory The Pure Theory of Law is a theory of positive law. It is a theory of positive law in general, not of a specific legal ...

Hans Kelsen is considered by many to be the foremost legal thinker of the twentieth century. During the last decade of his life he was working on what he called a general theory of norms. Published posthumously in 1979 as Allgemeine Theorie der Normen, the book is here translated for the first time into English. Kelsen develops his "pure theory of law" into a "general theory of norms", and analyzes the applicability of logic to norms to offer an original and (...) extreme position which some have called "normative irrationalism". Examining the views of over 200 philosophers and legal theorists on law, morality, and logic, and revising several of his own earlier positions, Kelsen's final work is a mandatory resource for legal and moral philosophers. (shrink)

Ross, Alf Loar, Brian, Editor.Directives and Norms. New York: Humanities Press, [1967]. ix, 188 pp. Reprint available April 2009 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-961-2. ISBN-10: 1-58477-961-6. Cloth with dust jacket. $65.00 * Reprint of the first American edition. One of the most interesting jurists of the post-World War II era, Ross [1899-1979] was a legal and moral philosopher, scholar of international law and the leading representative of Scandinavian Legal Realism. This book and On Law and Justice (1958) are (...) his principal works. In Directives and Norms Ross asks whether imperatives (or, to use his term, 'directives') are subject to logic in the same way as indicatives. He shows the difference between indicative and directive discourse and explains the concepts 'directive' and 'norm' as they function in the social sciences, especially in the study of law. A contemporary essay in the Modern Law Review (32:544), though critical of this work, was still impressed by its "clear and convincing account" of these processes. (shrink)

Law is traditionally conceived as consisting of norms of conduct and power-conferring norms. This conception, however, is unable to account for a variety of elements of modern legal systems that differ significantly from the classical notions. This book concerns the problem of which results of human activity can obtain legal validity. The author makes use of recent findings in speech act theory, especially John R. Searle and Daniel Vanderveken's illocutionary logic. He sets out a theory of legal norms conceived as (...) institutional legal facts resulting from performances of speech acts specified in power-conferring norms. The theory provides a classification of acts-in-the-law and of legal norms resulting from performances of these. Finally, the transition is made from institutional legal facts to legal institutions. The book is a contribution to the institutional theory of law as developed by N. MacCormick and O. Weinberger. (shrink)

Fifty years on from its first publication, The Concept of Law is still the starting point for the study of legal philosophy and is widely heralded as a classic work of modern philosophy. This third edition features a new introduction by Leslie Green, looking at Hart's work from the perspective of modern jurisprudence.