Hobbes and the Law

Description

Hobbes's political thought provokes a perennial fascination. It has become particularly prominent in recent years, with the surge of scholarly interest evidenced by a number of monographs in political theory and philosophy. At the same time, there has been a turn in legal scholarship towards political theory in a way that engages recognisably Hobbesian themes, for example the relationship between security and liberty. However, there is surprisingly little engagement with Hobbes's views on legal theory in general and on certain legal topics, despite the fact that Hobbes devoted whole works to legal inquiry and gave law a prominent role in his works focused on politics. This volume seeks to remedy this gap by providing the first collection of specially commissioned essays devoted to Hobbes and the law.

David Dyzenhaus is Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Toronto and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Thomas Poole is Reader in Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

'... it seems clear that Hobbes and the Law succeeds in illuminating the breadth and depth of Hobbes' legal theory and at the same time succeeds in bringing to light the variety of different possible understandings of it. It thus amounts to a highly valuable contribution to Hobbes scholarship.' David Undersrud, The Cambridge Law Journal 'All in all, the volume offers a good overview of some important topics in Hobbes's legal philosophy. Many of the chapters are of high quality and make real contributions to scholarship. This is especially true, in my view, of the more historically-oriented chapters. Add the fact that several contributors present mutually conflicting interpretations and the picture arising from this volume is one of an on-going and fertile debate.' Johan Olsthoorn, Tijdschrift voor Filosofie 'Hobbes and the Law is an important contribution to Hobbes studies and is to be roundly recommended.' Susanne Sreedhar, Ethics