Blackwell Reference Online

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Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart was born of Jewish parents in Yorkshire, England and was educated at New College, Oxford. After graduating with a First in Greats, Hart was called to the Bar as a Chancery barrister in London. He spent the next eight years building a successful legal practice, specializing first in property conveyancing, trust drafting, and tax planning, and then moving on to court work and advising. Although his interests quickly turned from law to philosophy, Hart continued to practice and, in fact, during this period he declined an invitation to teach philosophy in Oxford. His legal career, however, was cut short by World War II. While working with British Intelligence, Hart met Gilbert Ryle and Stuart Hampshire, from whom he learned of the new trends in philosophy. When the war ended, Hart left his law practice and returned to Oxford. In 1952, Hart was elected to the Chair of Jurisprudence, a somewhat surprising appointment given that he did not have a degree in either law or philosophy and had published little by that point. He occupied that chair, however, with great distinction, publishing several seminal works in legal theory, including his masterpiece, The Concept of Law , in 1961 . Hart is perhaps best known for his vigorous and sophisticated defense of the doctrine known as legal positivism. In its broadest sense, legal positivism is a theory about the nature ... log in or subscribe to read full text