Playing by the Rules

Rules are a central component of such diverse enterprises as law morality language games religion etiquette and family governance but there is often confusion about what a rule is and what rules do. Offering a comprehensive philosophical analysis of these questions this book challenges much of the existing legal jurisprudential and philosophical literature by seeing a significant role for rules an equally significant role for their stricter operation and making the case for rules as devices for the allocation of power among decision-makers.