Abstract

The author seeks to analyse the distinctive character and status of legal philosophy and more generally its relationship with philosophy, including an analysis of law drawing on other disciplines in the humanities or the social sciences. The author approaches these questions by way of a personal narrative. She illustrates how she entertains very serious doubts about the extent to which legal philosophy ought to be regarded as an autonomous discipline. This is why, in approaching her own work, she is not inclined to make a hard distinction between philosophical and non-philosophical contributions. The author explains this position by illustrating three very different fields in which she has worked over the last 30 years: feminist theory, a biography of H.L.A Hart and the history and theory of criminal law.