The Germ of Justice

Jurisprudence navigates the philosophy of law, including how morality affects and is affected by legal systems. This interplay begs complex questions such as: Should the law not only enforce morality but also improve it? Do subjects have a duty to obey the law and do officials have a duty to govern? The Germ of Justice: Essays in General Jurisprudence discusses these and more.

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Jurisprudence navigates the philosophy of law, including how morality affects and is affected by legal systems. This interplay begs complex questions such as: Should the law not only enforce morality but also improve it? Do subjects have a duty to obey the law and do officials have a duty to govern? The Germ of Justice: Essays in General Jurisprudence discusses these and more.

Within these essays, Professor Leslie Green examines three clusters of problems in general jurisprudence: the nature of law, the relations between law and morality, and the demands that law makes of its officers and its subjects. It asks what jurisprudence can learn from the social sciences, how it is related to the humanities, how it might make progress, and why it is of value.

This wonderful and accessible text examines contemporary jurisprudence and engages with the key works of Hume, Kelsen, Hart, Dworkin, Finnis, and Raz. The Germ of Justice is a must have critical study of contemporary jurisprudence, political theory, and philosophy.

Leslie Green was born in Scotland and studied at Queen's University, Canada and at Nuffield College, Oxford. He began teaching at Lincoln College, Oxford before moving to Osgoode Hall Law School. He later returned to Oxford as Professor of the Philosophy of Law and Fellow of Balliol College, and to Queen's as Professor of Law and Distinguished University Fellow. He has been a V...

Leslie Green was born in Scotland and studied at Queen's University, Canada and at Nuffield College, Oxford. He began teaching at Lincoln College, Oxford before moving to Osgoode Hall Law School. He later returned to Oxford as Professor of the Philosophy of Law and Fellow of Balliol College, and to Queen's as Professor of Law and Distinguished University Fellow. He has been a Visiting Professor at Berkeley, Chicago, NYU and Texas - Austin, and delivered named lectures around the world, including the Leon Green Lecture, The Julius Stone Address, the Kadish Lecture, the 'Or 'Emet Lecture, and the Dewey Lecture.