The Philosophy of Law: A Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
by Raymond Wacks
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Book Summary Information
Author: Raymond WacksEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-06-22
ISBN: 0192806912
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of The Philosophy of Law: A Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Book Review: Good but very short indeed
Summary: 4 Stars
The Very Short Introduction... series has several advantages over other series that serve the same function of providing an introduction to a subject matter. The main advantage is physical size. Mr. Clark refers to it as the perfect "plane" book. That's true. But even better, it is a true pocket book. They fit easily into the back of one's jeans waiting for the odd moment to be pulled out and used. They can usually be easily read in a couple of hours.
But that format has limitations. I find that the VSI volumes that are devoted to a single thinker are much more useful than the ones that cover a broad subject matter. (It inspires me to a bad pun. "A very short intro to a very big subject" is almost Oxfordmoronic. O, never mind.)
At best, when dealing with a subject matter as opposed to an individual thinker the VSIs are concise intros. But sometimes, as with the VSI to The Philosophy of Law the treatment seems shallow. Wacks is very good on some of his thinkers: Rawls, Dworkin, Hart, Weber, and Habermas are all fairly well done. Some of the others are not as well handled- I found his treatment of Locke, Marx, Foucault to be cursory at best. It felt like a survey of a survey.
So take it for what it is. This volume is a very quick overview of a lot of thinkers (see Mr. Clark's review for a good listing). Some of these thinkers are important enough to deserve their own volume in the series (Locke, Marx, and Habermas). Others like Rawls and Dworkin deserve such treatment. Prof. Wacks has provided us with a quick and cheap way to orient ourselves to future reading in this field. I just cannot help but feel that he could have done better. That if he had taken the time to flesh out his presentation for another fifty or so pages that it would have been a much more useful member of the VSI family.
Summary of The Philosophy of Law: A Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
This lively and accessible introduction to the social, moral, and cultural foundations of law takes a broad scope-- spanning philosophy, law, politics, and economics, and discussing a range of topics including women's rights, racism, the environment, and recent international issues such as the war in Iraq and the treatment of terror suspects. Revealing the intriguing and challenging nature of legal philosophy with clarity and enthusiasm, Raymond Wacks explores the notion of law and its role in our lives. Referring to key thinkers from the classical world to the modern, he looks at the central questions behind legal theory that have always fascinated lawyers and philosophers, as well as anyone who ever wondered about law's relation to justice, morality, and democracy.General Books
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