A Treatise of Legal Philosophy and General Jurisprudence is the first-ever multivolume treatment of the issues in legal philosophy and general jurisprudence, from both a theoretical and a historical perspective. The work is aimed at jurists as well as legal and practical philosophers. Edited by the renowned theorist Enrico Pattaro and his team, this book is a classical reference work that would be of great interest to legal and practical philosophers as well as to jurists and legal scholar at all levels. The work is divided The theoretical part (published in 2005), consisting of five volumes, covers the main topics of the contemporary debate; the historical part, consisting of six volumes (Volumes 6-8 published in 2007; Volumes 9 and 10, published in 2009; Volume 11 published in 2011 and volume 12 forthcoming in 2012/2013), accounts for the development of legal thought from ancient Greek times through the twentieth century. The entire set will be completed with an index.

Volume 1: The Law and the Right, a Reappraisal of the Reality that ought to be

by Enrico Pattaro

This work brings out and recovers the normative dimension of law, called "the reality that ought to be", placing within this reality the idea of what is right. Part I reconstructs the current as well as the traditional civil-law conception of the reality that ought to be and raises some critical theoretical issues. Part II introduces some basic concepts on language and behaviour and presents a conception of norms as beliefs. Part III aims to find explanations for the idea of a reality that ought to be. Part IV consists of inquiries focussed on Homeric epic, the natural-law school, and the normativistic view of positive law.