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Neil MacCormick (1949-2009)

By Lawrence Solum

Sir Neil MacCormick, one of the leading philosophers of law, passed away during the first week of April.  See the obituary in The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/07/obituary-sir-neil-maccormick.  Here is an excerpt:

He was a pupil and disciple of Herbert Hart, whose thought and style, grounded in the traditions of Anglo-American law and analytical philosophy, inspired Neil's first book, Legal Reasoning and Legal Theory (1978). This established his worldwide reputation as a legal philosopher, and was quickly followed by HLA Hart (1981). The direction of his later work was foreshadowed in Legal Right and Social Democracy (1982), a wide-ranging series of essays exploring the frontiers of legal, political and constitutional philosophy. Influenced by continental, especially Scandinavian, legal thought, he came to find the analytical approach lacking in moral dimension and contact with political and constitutional reality. The second edition of HLA Hart explains the differences, while remaining faithful to the inspiration of his mentor. Neil's mature philosophy is set out in the four volumes of his classic series Law, State and Practical Reason, the last of which he doggedly saw through to publication during his final illness.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on April 20, 2009 (boomark / email).