This book argues that the institutions of law and the structures of legal thought are best understood by referencing the moral ideals of freedom and independence from the power of others.
In making this claim, the author rejects the viewpoint of much contemporary legal theory, and seeks to move jurisprudence closer to an older tradition of philosophical reflection upon law, exemplified by Hobbes and Kant. According to most contemporary legal theorists, the understanding and analysis of existing institutions is quite distinct from any enterprise of moral reflection, but Nigel Simmonds...