For this second edition, the editors have returned to Austin's original lecture notes, amending the printed text where it seemed necessary.

This book is the one to put into the hands of those who have been over-impressed by Austin 's critics....[Warnock's] brilliant editing puts everybody who is concerned with philosophical problems in his debt.

The subject of this paper, Excuses, is one not to be treated, but only to be introduced, within such limits. It is, or might be, the name of a whole branch, even a ramiculated branch, of philosophy, or at least of one fashion of philosophy. I shall try, therefore, first to state what the subject is, why it is worth studying, and how it may be studied, all this at a regrettably lofty level: and then I shall illustrate, in more (...) congenial but desultory detail, some of the methods to be used, together with their limitations, and some of the unexpected results to be expected and lessons to be learned. Much, of course, of the amusement, and of the instruction, comes in drawing the coverts of the microglot, in hounding down the minutiae, and to this I can do no more here than incite you. But I owe it to the subject to say, that it has long afforded me what philosophy is so often thought, and made, barren of -- the fun of discovery, the pleasures of co-operation, and the satisfaction of reaching agreement. (shrink)

John Austin's classic work that has had a profound influence on the study of English and American law presents Austin's distinction between "positive law" (i.e.

The word utiliarianism was coined by Jeremy Bentham in 1781 in a letter to friend in which he said: "A new religion would be an odd sort of thing without a name." While the doctrine never quite became a religion, its thesis, as expressed by Mill in the first essay in this volume-that the good and right are to be defined as that which promotes happiness-became the dominant naturalistic theory of the nineteenth century and provided the moral basis for classical (...) liberalism. (shrink)

This edition comprises the full text of Austin's The Province of Jurisprudence Determined, a classic work of moral, political, and legal philosophy, and Austin ...

Austin takes on the problem of other minds, of how to respond to the question ‘how do you know?’, if this question is raised with regard to the thoughts, feelings, sensations, minds of other creatures. This problem has traditionally been understood as the problem of justifying our belief in the existence of other minds. Austin argues that believing in other persons, in authority and testimony, is an essential part of the act of communicating, and as such is an irreducible part (...) of our experience. While we can state certain advantages of communicative performances, there is no justification for our doing them as such. (shrink)

Sobre la utilidad del estudio de la jurisprudencia de John Austin, es la obra que esclarece la esencia del derecho y de la legislación, el propio objeto de la jurisprudencia que conforma en su plataforma el beneficio del conocimiento de una ciencia cuya finalidad es desentrañar los mecanismos y principios de las reglamentaciones y estatutos que rigen el comportamiento humano en las sociedades establecidas. El autor indaga y profundiza en la necesidad de estudiar la naturaleza del derecho y en distinguir (...) las diversas clases de leyes que lo conforman y se aplican en el campo jurídico. Propone la utilidad que tiene el estudio de la jurisprudencia en el acontecer reglamentario, la importancia de definir los comienzos que constituyen el propio objeto de las leyes, no con el fin de determinar su valor, criterio o medida, cuyo trabajo es del legislador; sino de exponer los principios y distinciones comunes a los sistemas del derecho. John Austin plantea las ventajas que se obtienen al analizar el sistema del derecho mediante el descubrimiento y la definición de los componentes que integran las normas que lo fundamentan, arrojando luz sobre la oscuridad verbal que puede confundir el derecho y la moral. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)