The Concept of Law Preface

By: HLA Hart

Hart starts the preface of his book The Concept of Law, by stating straightforwardly that the aim of the book is to see the interplay of law, coercion, andmoralityas different by related social phenomena, which he says is designed not only for students of law, but also for those focusing in the field of political philosophy and sociology. The focus of the book is on the general framework of legal thought, and not on the generating criticisms of law or legal policy. He says that throughout the book, he will raise questions concerning the definitions of different phrases or words. An example he gave is how he differentiates what it means to being obligedfrom what it means to having an obligation. Furthermore, he adds that there will be a great focus on two different kinds of statements, which he calls the internal and external statements.

He then proceeds that more than focusing on law, he would be touching on the concept of descriptive sociology. Another topic covered is on the distinctions between types of social situation or relationships, which he said may be best exemplified by an examination of the standard uses of the relevant expressions and of the way in which these depend on a social context.

Lastly, he says that he is indebted to other writers, since the book is highly inclined in filling in the deficiencies of a simple model of a legal system, which is the focus of Austin’s imperative system. Furthermore, he says that aside from actually writing the book per se, he has a pedagogic aim. He wants to prove that a book on legal theory can be a book not primarily from which one learns what other books contain. Through doing so, he hopes that this new point of view from the readers would amplify the learnings that could be derived from his book.