Hobbes and the Law

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David Dyzenhaus, Thomas Poole
Cambridge University Press, Aug 30, 2012 - Law - 244 pages
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.
 

Contents

The political jurisprudence of Thomas Hobbes
5
The equal extent of natural and civil law
22
Thomas Hobbes and the common law
39
Hobbes on law and prerogative
68
Criminal law for humans
97
Hobbes on civic liberty and the rule of law
145
Hobbes on equity
165
Hobbes on the authority of law
186
the use of Roman law
210
Index
236
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About the author (2012)

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.

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