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Dworkin, Hart, and the Problem of Theoretical Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2024

Michael Mandel
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Abstract

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The following article analyzes the dispute between legal philosophers Ronald Dworkin and H.L.A. Hart over the nature of legal rights. The author argues that central to this dispute is a pervasive methodological problem of social theory, the “problem of theoretical perspective.” He makes use of a distinction between “internal” and “external” perspectives to defend what he conceives to be Hart's more fully social approach to the conceptualization of legal rights.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , Fall 1979 , pp. 57 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © 1979 The Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

*

I am grateful to Harry Glasbeek, Reuben Hasson, Allan Hutchinson and the editors of the Law and Society Review for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

References

References

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Cases Cited

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (98 S. Ct. 2733, 1978a).Google Scholar
* These articles are included in Taking Rights Seriously, 1977.Google Scholar
** This article is included in the 1977 paperback edition only, under the title “A Reply to Critics.”.Google Scholar