Philosophy of Law
Law: The Basic Concepts
University studies mean the critical reading of texts, and also reflection. The latter
should be stimulated by lectures and tutorials, and by discussion. In an attempt to meet
the needs of students, we offer here a handbook (in English) for the study of the
philosophy of law. An innovative idea underlies this handbook – teaching an aspect of
law through questions and answers. It is based on a philosophical approach to the study of
law. In preparing this handbook, the authors have drawn on English-language models – in
the first instance, on the Routletge Questions & Answers Series:
Jurisprudence 2013–2014 by David Brooke (New York 2013). We have proceeded from a
position that the subject of philosophy of law may be dealt with in five sections. These
are: (I) methodology; (II) people; (III) approaches; (IV) concepts; and (V) hard cases.
The contents of our book reflects this division into parts. At the outset, however, we
must mention some reservations. First, this handbook considers problems of contemporary
philosophy of law, but it is by no means a handbook of the history of philosophy of law.
Second, this handbook has a module-based organization. In the future, it will be possible
to change these modules as required. Thus, it is an open-ended offering, which will
certainly – and this was part of the project from the start - be subject to further
changes, supplements, and modifications in subsequent editions.
From the Editors (Jerzy Zajadło, Kamil Zeidler)
Instead of an Introduction:
What Use Is the Philosophy of Law to Lawyers? (Jerzy Zajadło)
Part I
Methodology
Chapter 1. The Methodological Status of Legal Studies (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 2. Philosophy of Law and Theory of Law (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 3. Philosophy of Law and Sociology of Law (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 4. Theory of Law and Sociology of Law (Jerzy Zajadło)
Part II
People
Chapter 1. Robert Alexy (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 2. John Finnis (Tomasz Widłak)
Chapter 3. Lon L. Fuller (Tomasz Snarski)
Chapter 4. Herbert L.A. Hart (Magdalena Glanc)
Chapter 5. Oliver W. Holmes (Oktawian Nawrot)
Chapter 6. Hans Kelsen (Jarosław Niesiołowski)
Part III
Tendencies, Movements, Approaches
Chapter 1. Bio-law (Oktawian Nawrot)
Chapter 2. Law and Economics (Tomasz Widłak)
Chapter 3. Feminism and Law (Anna Machnikowska)
Chapter 4. Hermeneutics and Law (Filip Przybylski-Lewandowski)
Chapter 5. Critical Legal Studies (Paweł Sut)
Chapter 6. Legal Positivism (Magdalena Glanc)
Chapter 7. Law and Literature (Kamil Zeidler)
Chapter 8. Natural Law (Paweł Sut)
Chapter 9. Legal Realism (Maciej Wojciechowski)
Chapter 10. Theories of legal argumentation (Kamil Zeidler)
Part IV
Ideas
Chapter 1. Dignity (Paweł Sut)
Chapter 2. Ius and lex (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 3. Legal certainty (Maciej Wojciechowski)
Chapter 4. Obedience (Maciej Wojciechowski)
Chapter 5. Truth (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 6. Equality (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 7. Solidarity (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 8. Equity (Tomasz Widłak)
Chapter 9. Justice (Oktawian Nawrot)
Chapter 10. Freedom/Liberty (Paweł Sut)
Part V
Hard cases
Chapter 1. Do hard cases exist and if so what are they? (Jerzy Zajadło)
Chapter 2. Great disputes
2.1. Hart v. Fuller (Tomasz Snarski)
2.2. Hart v. Devlin (Magdalena Glanc)
Chapter 3. Law’s conflict with law
3.1. The plank of Carneades (Magdalena Glanc)
3.2. Radbruch’s Formula (Jerzy Zajadło)
3.3. Legality and legitimization (Tomasz Widłak)
Chapter 4. The conflict of law with other normative systems
4.1. Cannibalism (Tomasz Widłak)
4.2. The cultural defense (Tomasz Snarski)
4.3. The judge’s conscience (Jerzy Zajadło)
Selected Further Readings
334 pages, Paperback