Legality [Paperback]

What is law? This question has preoccupied philosophers from Plato to Thomas Hobbes to H. L. A. Hart. Yet many others find it perplexing. How could we possibly know how to answer such an abstract question? And what would be the point of doing so? InLegality,Scott Shapiroargues that the question is not only meaningful but vitally important. In fact, many of the most pressing puzzles that lawyers confrontincluding who has legal authority over us and how we should interpret constitutions, statutes, and caseswill remain elusive until this grand philosophical question is resolved.

Shapiro draws on recent work in the philosophy of action to develop an original and compelling answer to this age-old question. Breaking with a long tradition in jurisprudence, he argues that the law cannot be understood simply in terms of rules. Legal systems are best understood as highly complex and sophisticated tools for creating and applyingplans. Shifting the focus of jurisprudence in this wayfrom rules to plansnot only resolves many of the most vexing puzzles about the nature of law but has profound implications for legal practice as well.

Written in clear, jargon-free language, and presupposing no legal or philosophical background,Legalityis both a groundbreaking new theory of law and an excellent introduction to and defense of classical jurisprudence.

Legalityis the most important contribution about the nature of law in recent years and a book that raises the bar for future work in jurisprudence. With admirable clarity, Shapiro argues that legal systems should not be understood simply in terms of rules, but instead as highly complex tools for creating and applying plans. His account offers an illuminating alternative to the literature and challenges much received wisdom.It cannot be doubted that Shapiros book, which clarifies and advances analytical jurisprudence, is bound to be a classic text.[Legality] is a sympathetic,lÃ-