Law

For Hart, law is the set of primary and secondary socially recognized rules.

Primary Rules

Primary rules are the social rules that regulate physical action and change in the world.

Secondary Rules

Secondary rules are rules of recognition and adjudication for primary rules and other secondary rules.

A Legal System

A legal system is composed of external and internal elements, which involve both the recognition of actual legal practices and the recognition of law as a standard from those to whom they apply.

Obligation

Hart raises the question of how the law obligates those to whom they apply.

Formalism

Formalism holds that law is a set of rules that have determinate content. Hart rejects legal formalism.

Rule-Skepticism

Rule-skepticism holds that rules are so indeterminate that we should be skeptics about rules.

Indeterminacy

Hart thinks that rules are indeterminate in their application and content and that judges must...