This classic collection of essays, first published in 1968, represents H.L.A. Hart's landmark contribution to the philosophy of criminal responsibility and punishment. Unavailable for ten years, this new edition reproduces the original text, adding a new critical introduction by John Gardner, a leading contemporary criminal law theorist.

The Late H.L.A. Hart was Professor of Jurisprudence in the University of Oxford from 1952 to 1968. Subsequently he became Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford. His other major works include Causation in the Law (with Tony Honoré, OUP 1959), The Concept of Law (OUP 1961) and Law, Liberty and Morality (OUP 1963).
; John Gardner has been Professor of Jurisprudence in the University of Oxford since 2000. He is a former Fellow of All Souls and Brasenose Colleges in Oxford, and has also taught at King's College London, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, and the University of Texas. His book Offences and Defences is forthcoming from OUP.

• Introduction


• 1: Prolegomenon to the Principles of Punishment


• 2: Legal Responsibility and Excuses


• 3: Murder and the Principles of Punishment: England and the United States


• 4: Acts of Will and Responsibility


• 5: Intention and Punishment


• 6: Negligence, Mens Rea, and Criminal Responsibility


• 7: Punishment and the Elimination of Responsibility


• 8: Changing Conceptions of Responsibility


• 9: Postscript: Responsibility and Retribution