On the History of the Idea of Law

On the History of the Idea of Law is the first book ever to trace the development of the philosophical theory of law from its first appearance in Plato’s writings to today. Professor Letwin finds important and positive insights and tensions in the theories of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Hobbes. She finds confusions and serious errors introduced by Cicero, Aquinas, Bentham, and Marx. She harnesses the insights of H. L. A. Hart and especially Michael Oakeshott to mount a devastating attack on the late twentieth-century theories of Ronald Dworkin, the Critical Legal Studies movement, and feminist jurisprudence. In all of this, Professor Letwin finds the rule of law to be the key to modern liberty and the standard of justice. This is the final work of the distinguished historian and theorist Shirley Robin Letwin, a major figure in the revival of Conservatine thought and doctrine from 1960 onwards, who died in 1993.

• The final work of a major conservative thinker of the late twentieth century • A unique and highly reader-friendly overview of the development of western legal philosophy • Author with a major Translatlantic reputation, with strong links to both Chicago and the LSE

Editor’s preface; Introduction; Part I. Law Anchored to a Cosmic Order: 1. Plato; 2. Aristotle; 3. Cicero; Part II. The Christian Revision: 4. St Augustine; 5. St Thomas Aquinas; Part III. The Modern Quest: 6. Thomas Hobbes; 7. John Locke; 8. Immanuel Kent; 9. Jeremy Bentham; Part IV. The Significance of Rules: 10. From historical jurisprudence to realism; 11. The Defense of Rules; Part V. The Idea of Law Repudiated: 12. Marxist Theories; 13. Political jurisprudence 1; 14. Political jurisprudence 2; Part VI. New Foundations: 15. A skeptical jurisprudence; 16. Postscript; Index.