Abstract
By three years from now, anyone in Britain or America who attempts to conduct a graduate course in contemporary political philosophy, fundamental ethics, or the philosophy of law, without having first thoroughly read this book, will be open, with considerable justification, to the charge of incompetence. It is the most recent addition to the Clarendon Law Series under the general editorship of H.L.A. Hart; and, in the opinion of this reviewer, it deserves a place in current discussions comparable in prominence to the one enjoyed by John Rawls's A Theory of Justice.