This book is a selection of articles and chapters published over Martin Golding's academic career. Golding's approach to the philosophy of law is that it contains conceptual and normative issues and in this volume logical issues in legal reasoning are examined, and various theories of law are critically discussed. Normative questions are dealt with regarding the rule of law and criminal law defenses, and the concept of rights and the terminology of rights are analyzed. Much of Golding's work is critical-historical as well as constructive. This volume will prove an informative and useful collection for scholars and students of the philosophy of law.

Contents: Introduction; My philosophy of law; Part 1 Legal Reasoning: Principled decision-making and the Supreme Court; A note on discovery and justification in science and law; The logical force of arguments by analogy in common law reasoning; Aesthetics and legal reasoning: a strand in American legal thought; Preliminaries to the study of procedural justice; Substantive interpretation and common law elaboration; The legal analog of the principle of bivalence. Part 2 Legal Theories; Jurisprudence and legal philosophy in 20th century America - major themes and developments; Kelsen and the concept of 'legal system'; Holmes's jurisprudence: aspects of its development and continuity; Retroactive legislation and restoration of the rule of law; The cultural defense; Responsibility; Faux pas. Part 3 Rights: Towards a theory of human rights; Obligations to future generations; The significance of rights language; The primacy of welfare rights; Rights, performatives, and promises in Karl Olivecrona's legal theory; Name index.