In the course of articulating his monumental theory of political justification, Thomas Hobbes developed a sustained and detailed approach to law and legal questions. This collection provides an excellent survey of the various legal questions addressed by Hobbes.

Contents: Hobbes's Legal Theory: Hobbes on law, M.M. Goldsmith; Was Hobbes a legal positivist?, Mark C. Murphy; Thomas Hobbes and the contractarian theory of law, David Gauthier; Hobbes and the legitimacy of law, David Dyenhaus; In defense of a Hobbesian conception of law, Robert Ladenson. Hobbes on Natural Law and Natural Right: Hobbes and the laws of nature, David Gauthier; Hobbes' self-effacing natural law theory, S.A. Lloyd; The right of nature in The Leviathan, D.J.C. Carmichael; Right reason and natural law in Hobbes's ethics, Gregory S. Kavka. Hobbes on Equity: Hobbes on equity and justice, Larry May; Justice and equity: an inquiry into the meaning and role of equity in the Hobbesian account of justice and politics, William Mathie. Hobbes on Contract: The legal origins of Thomas Hobbes's doctrine of contract, Robinson A. Grover; Analyzing Hobbes's contract, M.T. Dalgarno; Hobbes's contract theory, Larry May. Hobbes on Punishment and Compensation: Hobbes's theory of punishment, Mario A. Cattaneo; Hobbes on capital punishment, David Heyd; Hobbes, formalism and corrective justice, Anita L. Allen and Maria H. Morales. Hobbes on Self -Defense, Revolution and the Duty to Obey the Law: Hobbes on fidelity to law, Larry May; A puzzle about Hobbes on self-defense, Claire Finkelstein; Subjects and soldiers: Hobbes on military service, Deborah Baumgold; Hobbes on conscientious disobedience, Mark C. Murphy; Democracy and the rule of law, Jean Hampton; Hobbes, Locke, and the problem of the rule of law, Michael P. Zuckert. Hobbes on International Law: Hobbes and the international anarchy, Hedley Bull; Hobbes and the concept of international law, Robinson A. Grover; Hobbes on international relations, Tommy L. Lott; Name index.

’Finkelstein has done non-specialists a service by collecting, in one place, a variety of readings that make close analysis of Hobbes' ideas... readily available’ The Law and Politics Book Review, Vol. 15 No. 11