MacCormick's Scotland

(Paperback)

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This book analyses in depth the distinctively Scottish themes in the work of Sir Neil MacCormick, the world-renowned legal philosopher and prominent Scottish public intellectual who died in 2009 after holding the Regius Chair in Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations at Edinburgh University for 36 years. MacCormick's work, and works about MacCormick, attract both a domestic and an international audience. Readers will gain an understanding of how MacCormick's Scottish roots, interests and commitments coloured his work - both his distinctively Scottish writings and the overall intellectual outlook that informed his broader legal and philosophical writings.The book provides a well rounded appreciation of the Scottish dimension in MacCormick's thinking and writing. It focuses on a number of prominent Scottish themes in MacCormick's work and life and is structured around four key themes: 1) the nature and identity of a legal system; 2) sovereignty, European integration and Scottish independence; 3) the legacy of the legal and political thought of the Scottish enlightenment; and 4) the role of the academic in the Scottish public sphere.

Reviews

MacCormick's Scotland sets out to explain the distinctiveness of MacCormick's life and thought in terms of his "Scottishness"....Taken as a whole the book shows how MacCormick's conerns, agendas and distinctive ideas have deep roots in Scottish, history, culture, polictics, institutions, law and, above all, the Scottish Enlightenment. But it makes clear that his influence and significance reach far beyond Scotland....--William Twining, University College London "Cambridge Law Journal, Volume 72 Part 2"

Author Bio

Neil Walker is Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations in the School of Law, University of Edinburgh. His main area of expertise is constitutional theory. He has published extensively on the constitutional dimension of legal order at sub-state, state, supranational and international levels. He has also published at length on the relationship between security, legal order and political community. In December 2008, Professor Walker conducted an independent review of final appellate jurisdiction in the Scottish legal system on behalf of the Scottish Government.