The concept of law lies at the heart of our social and political life, shaping the character of our community and underlying issues from racism and abortion to human rights and international war. But what actually is law? A set of naturally occurring moral principles, or simply rules agreed by a particular society? What is a 'right' and what rights should people actually have? Is law really colour-blind and gender-blind? Can the law truly tell us whether gay marriages are immoral, what's wrong with racism, or whether we should go to war? Revealing the intriguing and challenging nature of legal philosophy with clarity and enthusiasm, Raymond Wacks explores the notion of law and its role in our lives. Referring to key thinkers from Aristotle to Rawls, Bentham, Dworkin, H.L.A. Hart and Derrida, he looks at the central questions behind legal theory that have fascinated lawyers and philosophers - and anyone - who ever wondered about law's relation to justice, morality, and democracy.

Raymond Wacks　香港大學法學和法理學榮譽退休教授。主要研究領域為法學理論、隱私權和人權，所發錶作品涉及法律及法哲學的諸多方麵。主要著作包括：《個人信息：隱私與法律》（1993）、《法理學》（1999，該書在世界範圍內作為教材被廣泛采用）、《理解法理學：法律理論引論》（2005）等。