H·L·A·哈特

贺伯特·赖尼尔·阿道弗斯·哈特（英语：Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart，1907年－1992年），一般简称为“H·L·A·哈特”（H. L. A. Hart）是20世纪最重要的法律哲学家之一。他是《法律的概念》（The Concept of Law）一书的作者，切尔滕纳姆学院毕业后，入牛津大学新学院学习古典学，并在1929年以优异成绩结业。曾任牛津大学法学教授，法实证主义的代表人物，二战期间曾在英军情报部门工作。哈特在分析哲学框架内发展了一套精深法律实证主义理论。曾先后和富勒、德富林、德沃金展开过著名的辩论。哈特的贡献在于以语言分析哲学为基础，重新挽救了在二战后饱受批评的法实证主义，其两位学生约瑟夫·拉兹与尼尔·麦考米克亦是法实证主义的代表人物。

Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart (18 July 1907 – 19 December 1992) was a British legal philosopher. One of the most influential legal theorists of the 20th century, he was instrumental in the development of the theory of legal positivism, which was popularised by his book The Concept of Law. Hart's contributions focused on the nature of law, the relationship between law and morality, and the analysis of legal rules and systems, introducing concepts such as the "rule of recognition" that have shaped modern legal thought.

Born in Harrogate, Hart received a first-class honours degree in classical studies from New College, Oxford, before qualifying at the English bar. During World War II, Hart served in British intelligence, working with figures including Alan Turing and Dick White. After the war, Hart transitioned to academia, becoming Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford in 1952, a position he held until 1969.

In addition to his legal positivism, Hart engaged in important debates on the role of law in society, most famously with Patrick Devlin, over the enforcement of morality through law, and with his successor at Oxford, Ronald Dworkin, on the nature of legal interpretation. Hart's influence extended beyond his own work, mentoring legal thinkers including Joseph Raz, John Finnis, and Ronald Dworkin.

Early life and education

Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart was born on 18 July 1907, the son of Rose Samson Hart and Simeon Hart, in Harrogate to which his parents had moved from the East End of London. His father was a Jewish tailor of German and Polish origin; his mother, of Polish origin and a daughter of successful retailers in the clothing trade, handled customer relations and the finances of their firm. He had three siblings, two elder brothers, Albert (1901) and Reggie (1902), and a younger sister, Sybil (1915).

Hart was educated at Cheltenham College, Bradford Grammar School, and at New College, Oxford. He took a first in classical greats in 1929. Hart became a barrister and practised successfully at the Chancery bar from 1932 to 1940. He was good friends with Richard Wilberforce, Douglas Jay, and Christopher Cox, among others. He received a Harmsworth Scholarship to the Middle Temple and also wrote literary journalism for the periodical John O'London's Weekly.

Second World War and marriage

Hart married Jenifer Fischer Williams in 1941. She had joined the Home Office as a civil servant in 1936, later becoming an Oxford historian at St Anne's College, specialising in the history of the police. During the mid-1930s, Williams had been, for some years, a covert member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, but she never engaged in espionage for the Soviet Union, and had left the party by the start of the war.

Three decades later, she, having been in a position to have passed information to the Soviets, was interviewed by Peter Wright, MI5's official spy hunter. She explained her situation, and Wright took no action. Her work as civil servant was in fields such as family policy and so would have been of no interest to the Soviets.

The person who is regarded as having recruited her to the communists, Bernard Floud, interviewed by Wright shortly after, maintained that he was unable to remember ever having done so. Nor was her husband in a position to convey to her information of use, given the sharp separation of his work from that of foreign affairs and its focus on German spies and British turncoats rather than on matters related to the Soviet ally. In fact, Hart was anticommunist.

World War II

On the recommendation of Williams, Hart was recruited to work for MI5 during World War II, a division of British military intelligence concerned with unearthing spies who had penetrated Britain, where he renewed Oxford friendships including working with the philosophers Gilbert Ryle and Stuart Hampshire. He worked closely with Dick White, later head of MI5 and then of MI6. Hart worked at Bletchley Park and was a colleague of the mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing.