Introduction

Professor Raz comments in his biographical note on the death of Professor Hart in Utilitas journal: 'The purpose of jurisprudence is not to instruct us in the use of the word "law" but to explore the law's essential relations to morality, force and society. The task of jurisprudence is misrepresented when it is conceived as a search for the definition of the word "law". It is in fact an exploration of the nature of an important social institution'. Such general and analytical jurisprudence is in stark contrast with legal theory that is preoccupied with a particular legal culture, such as Professor Dworkin's preoccupation with the correct forms of appellate argument and appellate judgment, especially in the Supreme Court of the United States. The correct moral balance between legitimate national security demands and legitimate human rights demands needs to be argued for as well. Jurisprudence has rarely been more relevant a subject for the law, politics or philosophy student.