Law and Philosophy: An Introduction with Readings

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Summary: Is Law Distantly Related to Philosophy!
Review: I read the book and found it very interesting and useful. It is indeed a difficult task to cover many aspects of relationship between Law and Philosophy in one single volume. In this post-modern age Law is somehow became too technical and practical to be maintained traditional organic relationship with philosophy. Is it then true that law is only distantly related to Philosophy! Does Philosophy has anything substantial to offer to genuine legal theories and thoughts! All legal systems are primarily rooted in some legal philosophy. But in our highly technological age rarely law professors and students find a closer relationship between philosophy and law-related subjects. It is a failure of our generation around the world. As a result these days hardly any serious scholar try to present some comprehensive thoughts relating philosophical theories to the legal postulates.

Law losing its closer touch with political and social theories simply become immoral instrument of state-authority to suppress the majority by a tiny minority. Professor Simon takes this issue seriously in his book and successfully establishes that morality is a corner stone in legal philosophy and thoughts. Kantian Idealism and Hobbesian Realisn received a good deal of treatement in the book. Analysis of the Universal principles of Law and Morality may attract many rightly-guided legal minds.

Ethics in Law cannot be over emphasised in our present day of lawlessness and endamic rise of crimes around the world. Regarding the issues of "programmatic rights" Professor Simon's words: "After all, a mere commitment to social assistance from cradle to grave can lead to relaxed vigilance concerning who is eligible for the cradle and who is ready for the grave." (p.310)

In most cases books on philosophy cannot provide realistic and provocative legal thoughts because authors do not maintain a proper balance between the two. The efforts of making a balance between legal thoughts and appropriate philosophical grounding of those ideas are very remarkable in the book. Prof. Simon has been trying to do something ground-breaking in this area. I am looking forward to his next contribution and strongly suggest to students and teachers to examine the book and author for their own clarity in concerned areas (Law, Political Sciences, and Philosophy) of study and interest.

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Summary: Finally, a book that REALLY works!!
Review: This book really works!! There seem to be countless introductory texts that try and explian the intricate relationship between law and philosophy. Thomas Simon's book is the first that I have read that readily helps its readers to wrap their minds around the fundamental aspects of law and its philosophical underpinnings. The carefully edited selections of readings helps to bring to life critical as well as controversial issues. Although obviously designed as a introductory text, the book gives thorough attention to the most basic philosophies as well as complex contemporary legal theories. The author's questions that follow each chapter are primed to encourage lively discussion. This book gets at the heart of the matter without being overly dense, boring or unreadable, a quality seldom seen in texts of this kind.