Abstract

This thesis contains a systematic statement of the political and legal philosophy of Ronald Dworkin. The topics discussed include: the nature of a liberal theory of law, legal positivism, utilitarianism, Dworkin's critique of legal positivism, the rights thesis, the liberal conception of equality, the right to equal concern and respect, democracy and civil rights, the general theory of rights, the problem of distributional equality, equality of welfare, equality of resources, the economic market, economic rights, and Dworkin's relation to Bentham