There is a sense of struggle in these pages, of a writer continually fascinated by the big questions of socio-legal theory. These essays also exhibit a broad-ranging erudition spanning a number of specialties. Hunt makes skillful use of the literature in European social theory, jurisprudence, philosophy, and the sociology of law. Third, despite the range of topics they cover and the length of time over which they were published, the essays cohere well. What draws them together is a common concern with theoretical questions.
Hunt is an adept critic of theory.
If the theoretical focus of the book represents one of its major strengths it is also, however, the source of its weaknesses. To these I now turn. For all the learning and commitment it embodies, there is a curious vagueness at the heart of this book. One fountain of this, I believe, is Hunt's conception of theory, a conception not unique to him but one which, on the contrary, is fairly widely held. Though Hunt self-consciously draws on elements of jurisprudence, sociology of law, and philosophy the theory he discusses and seeks to advance is ultimately empirical.