The role of John Austin (1790–1859) in the founding of analytical jurisprudence is unquestionable. Among his most remarkable contributions, mention should be made of his particular conception of jurisprudence (“general jurisprudence”), the command theory of law, the de fi nition of positive law as the command of the sovereign, his peculiar idea of sovereignty, the sharp distinction between law and morality, the harsh criticism of the concept of natural law and rights, his particular conception of liberty, his strong commitment to codi fi cation or rule by law, and the various classi fi cations of the law, most notably the distinction between the law of things and the law of persons, and primary and secondary rights and duties. After a century and a half, time has come to assess his legacy. This book is intended to fi ll a void in the existing literature. Work on Austin is, in fact, surprisingly scant for one of the great names of both jurisprudence and utilitarian ethics. Even though Austin appears in most textbooks and in a great many articles, and his theory is still a crucial point of reference in the classroom, there are few books presenting Austin’s legal and ethical thinking in relation to the different perspectives within legal theory.