Methods, theory and philosophy of law Books

Book SynopsisThis book explores the relationship between law and geography, particularly in relation to globalisation - of law, commerce, environmental change and society - which renders relations between the local and the global more significant. The book is structured according to conceptual frames - boundaries, land, property, nature, identity (persons, peoples and places), culture and time, and knowledge.Trade ReviewThe two editors - one a lawyer, the other a geographer - are to be congratulated on their collaborative venture and anyone interested in novel contexts surrounding either discipline will do well to examine the contents of this fascinating volume. * International Journal of Law in Context *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION ; 1. Connecting Law and Geography ; 2. From 'What' to 'So What': Law and Geography in Retrospect ; 3. The Spatial Dimension of Private Law ; BOUNDARIES ; 4. Beyond the Word: Law as a Thing of this World ; 5. The Queen's Peace: Reflections on the Spatial Politics of Sexuality in Law ; 6. Geography: The Problem of Scale, and Process or Allocation: The US National Organ Transplant Act of 1986, amended 1990 ; LAND ; 7. Freewheeling Uphill: Pedalling Downhill: Growing Pains in Developing a Land Market in China ; 8. Camels, Chameleons and Coyotes: Problematising the 'Histories' of Land Law Reform ; 9. Idolatry of Land ; PROPERTY ; 10. De/Re Territorialising Possession: the Shifting Spaces of Property Rights ; 11. Property Restitution, Property Law and the Post Communist Transition in Germany's New Bundeslander ; 12. Agenda 2000, Land Use and the Environment: Towards a Theory of 'Environmental' Property Rights ; 13. Property Rights, Urban Policy and the Law: Negotiating Neighbourhood Disputes in a Brazilian Shantytown ; 14. Informal Law in Informal Settlements ; NATURE ; 15. Governance and Resource Management in Mexico's Community Forestry Sector ; 16. Spaces of Diversity in Diverse Spaces ; 17. Conceptions of Environment in Law and Geography ; 18. Environmental gains? Collaborative planning, planning obligations and issues of closure in local land-use planning in the UK ; IDENTITY: PEOPLE, PERSONS AND PLACES ; 19. Only Connect ; 20. Family Geographies: Gobal Care Chains, Transnational Parenthood and New Legal Challenges in an Era of Labour Globalisation ; 21. On the Legal Geography of Ethnocratic Settler States: Notes Towards a Research Agenda ; CULTURE AND TIME ; 22. Green Metaphors: Language, Land and Law in Takings Debates ; 23. Space and Time: the Genius Loci of Ancient Places ; 24. From Local to Global - The Role of Geographical Isolation in Shaping Competition Law ; KNOWLEDGE ; 25. Putting Environmental Law on the Map: A Spatial Approach to Environmental Law Using GIS ; 26. Earth Observation and Principles on Data ; 27. Disciplinary Interactions: Ontological Commitments and Environmental Standard Setting

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Book SynopsisThe promotion of democracy is today a familiar feature of foreign policy, and an accepted part of the activities of international organizations. Should international law join in this move to promote democratic political arrangements? If so, on what basis, and with which of the many competing conceptions of democracy? Drawing on an eclectic range of source material, the author examines current debates about the emergence of an international legal ''norm of democratic governance'', and considers how proposals for such a norm might be rearticulated to meet some of the concerns to which they give rise. She also uses these debates to illustrate some more general points about approaches to the study of international law. In doing so, she seeks to defend an approach to international legal scholarship that takes its cue from the tradition of ideology critique.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Susan Marks has written a brilliantly provocative and sophisticated book giving a strikingly original and far-reaching slant to her analysis. The Riddle of All Constitutions provides an excellent critique of mainstream proposals about how to bring the pursuit of democracy into the thinking and interpretations of international law. * The American Journal of International Law Vol. 96, No. 1, January 2002 *The particular virtue of this text is that it grapples with the question of the ultimate purpose of international law. ... Susan Marks ... has produced a clear, well argued text that draws upon a wide range of sources; this is a volume that deserves to attract a wide audience. ... those students fearing an examination question on the meaning and purpose of international law will be in a better position if they have spent some time reading this thought-provoking work. ... All can benefit from reading this timely and stimulating text. * Law Update 2001 *Susan Marks presents a trenchant review of the arguments concerning the emergence of a "norm of democratic governance"...Marks' critique of contemporary writing is exceptionally clear and elegant...it is a sheer delight to read the work of a scholar who approaches her material with humility and a simple determination to engage with it and with her readers. For that alone this book would deserve the highest praise, as a substantial and significant contribution to the contemporary debate. But it also makes a substantial contribution to the literature...there can be no doubt that this book has moved the debate along considerably, and in great style. * Vaughan Lowe, Journal of Law and Society Vol. 27, No.4, 2000. *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Preface to a Critique of International Legal Ideology ; 2. International Law and the 'Liberal Revolution' ; 3. Limits of the Liberal Revolution I. Low Intensity Democracy ; 4. Limits of the Liberal Revolution II: Pan-National Democracy ; 5. International Law and the Project of Cosmopolitan Democracy ; 6. Afterword: Critical Knowledge

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Book SynopsisIn Defense of Legal Positivism is an uncompromising defence of legal positivism that insists on the separability of law and morality. After distinguishing among three facets of morality, Matthew Kramer explores a variety of ways in which law has been perceived as integrally connected to each of those facets.Some of the chapters pose arguments against other major theorists such as David Lyons, Lon Fuller, Joseph Raz, Michael Detmold, Ronald Dworkin, Nigel Simmonds, John Finnis, Philip Soper, neil McCormick, gerald Postema, Stephen Perry, and Michael Moore, while others extend rather than defend legal positivism; they refine the insights of legal positivism and develop the implications of those insights in strikingly novel directions. The book concludes with a detailed discussion of the obligation to obey the lae- a discussion that highlights the strengths of legal positivism in the domain of political philosophy as much as in the domain of jurisprudence.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Kramer's analysis is detailed, thoroughgoing and comprehensive. He lays bare the fundamental disagreements between positivist and anti-positivist theorists, and in the process promotes a richer understanding of the view he seeks to defend. * Philosophical Quarterly *Matthew Kramer, with characteristic vigour and analytical force, presents a staunch defense of positivism against many popular forms of idealism and rejects many of the concessions that positivism has made to idealism....Kramer's defence of legal positivism is a powerful synthesis of the ideas of some of the most well-known expositors of the doctrine. Whilst his general approach is negative -- in that he attempts to provide rebuttals to many of the more popular idealist attacks on positivism -- he does present a positive thesis, and it is on this that attention is focused. His positive argument skilfully combines Hartian, Austinian and Hobbesian jurisprudence....Kramer's analyses make stimulating reading....[H]e manages to clear much dead wood from the debate concerning the moral content of law and provides interesting arguments to which thosen of a different persuasion will have to respond * Patrick Capps, Modern Law Review, Sept. 2000. *Kramer provides an exhaustive defense of legal positivism against those who attribute a necessary relationship between law and morality... [H]is argument is a useful counterweight to the predominance of liberal moralizing and American parochialism that plagues contemporary legal theorizing...Kramer thus performs a valuable reminder to his fellow legal theorists that the act of maintaining the law by judges can be as self-interested and hypocritical as can the partisan business of legislation. One hopes that legal scholars have not become too pious (or self-interested, for that matter) to take up Kramer's challenge. * The Law and Politics Book Review Vol.10 No.1 *Matthew Kramer's defence of legal positivism [is] densely and intelligently argued....[An] enormous investment of intellectual energy * Oxford Journal of Legal Studies *Matthew Kramer's recent defense of legal positivism [is] one of the clearest and most powerful analyses to appear in recent years. * Philip Soper *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Introduction ; PART I: POSITIVISM DEFENDED ; 2. Justice as Constancy ; 3. Scrupulousness Without Scruples: A Critique of Lon Fuller and His Defenders ; 4. Requirements, Reasons, and Raz: Legal Positivism and Legal Duties ; 5. The Law in Action: A Study in Good and Evil ; 6. Also Among the Prophets: Some Rejoinders to Ronald Dworkin's Attacks on Legal Positivism ; PART II: POSITIVISM EXTENDED ; 7. Disclaimers and Reassertions ; 8. Elements of a Conceptual Framework ; 9. Law and Order: Some Implications ; Index

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Book SynopsisReason and Value collects 15 new papers by leading contemporary philosophers on themes from the work of Joseph Raz. Raz has made major contributions in a wide range of areas, including jurisprudence, political philosophy, and the theory of practical reason; but all of his work displays a deep engagement with central themes in moral philosophy. The subtlety and power of Raz''s reflections on ethical topics make his writings a fertile source for anyone working in this area. Especially significant are his explorations of the connections between practical reason and the theory of value, which constitute a sustained and penetrating treatment of a set of issues at the very center of moral philosophy as it is practiced today. The contributors to the volume acknowledge the importance of Raz''s contributions by engaging critically with his positions and offering independent perspectives on the topics that he has addressed. The volume aims both to honour Raz''s accomplishments in the area of ethTrade ReviewIt is necessary reading for anyone with a serious interest in those areas. * Niko Kolodny, Mind *Table of Contents1. Shared Valuing and Frameworks for Practical Reasoning ; 2. Reasons ; 3. Can Desires Provide Reasons for Action? ; 4. Enticing Reasons ; 5. Disengaging Reason ; 6. Raz on Values and Reasons ; 7. The Truth in Deontology ; 8. How to Engage Reason: The Problem of Regress ; 9. Why am I my Brother's Keeper? ; 10. Reasons: A Puzzling Duality? ; 11. Projects, Relationships, and Reasons ; 12. Egalitarianism, Choice-Sensitivity, and Accomodation ; 13. Raz on the Intelligibility of Bad Acts ; 14. What is it to Wrong Someone? A Puzzle about Justice ; 15. The Rightness of Acts and the Goodness of Lives

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Book SynopsisInstitutions of Law offers an original account of the nature of law and legal systems in the contemporary world. It provides the definitive statement of Sir Neil MacCormick''s well-known ''institutional theory of law'', defining law as ''institutional normative order'' and explaining each of these three terms in depth. It attempts to fulfil the need for a twenty-first century introduction to legal theory marking a fresh start such as was achieved in the last century by H. L. A. Hart''s The Concept of Law.It is written with a view to elucidating law, legal concepts, and legal institutions in a manner that takes account of current scholarly controversies but does not get bogged down in them. It shows how law relates to the State and civil society, establishing the conditions of social peace and a functioning economy. In so doing, it takes account of recent developments in the sociology of law, particularly ''system theory''. It also seeks to clarify the nature of claims to ''knowledge ofTrade ReviewMacCormick's general theory of law finds his most detailed expression in Institutions of Law. This book...is an elucidation of the concept of law as a kind of institutional normative order realised prominently...in the modern state.Table of ContentsPreface ; Acknowledgements ; PART I: NORM, INSTITUTION AND ORDER ; 1. On Normative Order ; 2. On Institutional Order ; 3. Law and the Constitutional State ; 4. A Problem: Rules or Habits? ; PART II: LEGAL POSITIONS AND RELATIONS ; 5. On Persons ; 6. Wrongs and Duties ; 7. Rights and Obligations ; 8. Legal Relations and Things: Property ; 9. Legal Powers and Validity ; PART III: LAW STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY ; 10. Powers and Public Law: Law and Politics ; 11. Constraints on Power: Fundamental Rights ; 12. Criminal Law and Civil Society: Law and Morality ; 13. Private Law and Civil Society: Law and Economy ; PART IV: LAW, VALUE AND METHOD ; 14. Positive Law and Moral Autonomy ; 15. On Law and Justice ; 16. Laws and Values: Reflections on Method

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Book SynopsisHow are law and morality connected, how do they interact, and in what ways are they distinct? These questions have been a fundamental concern in the modern analytic philosophy of law. In Where Law and Morality Meet Matthew Kramer reviews the most influential accounts of legal and moral reasoning and presents his own conception of whether moral principles should be incorporated into a concept of law.In Part One, Kramer argues that moral principles can enter into the law of any jurisdiction. He contends that legal officials can invoke moral principles as laws for resolving disputes, and that they can also invoke them as threshold tests which ordinary laws must satisfy. In opposition to many other theorists, Kramer argues that these functions of moral principles are consistent with the essential characteristics of any legal system.Part Two reaffirms the legal positivist argument that law and morality are separable, arguing against the position of natural-law theory, which portrays legal rTrade ReviewThat Kramer's prior work in this area has already received so much critical attention itself suggests that anyone interested in contemporary legal theory would benefit from this book's careful review of the contemporary lanscape of legal positivism and its subtle and often pursuasive arguments advancing those horizons. * Brian D. Berry, Law & Phiosophy Program, University of Texas *Table of ContentsPREFACE ; CONTENTS ; INTRODUCTION ; PART I - WHERE LAW AND MORALITY MEET: LEGAL POSITIVISM AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF LEGAL NORMS ; CHAPTER 1: HOW MORAL PRINCIPLES CAN ENTER INTO THE LAW ; CHAPTER 2: THROWING LIGHT ON THE ROLE OF MORAL PRINCIPLES IN THE LAW: FURTHER REFLECTIONS ; CHAPTER 3: ON MORALITY AS A NECESSARY OR SUFFICIENT CONDITION FOR LEGALITY ; CHAPTER 4: OF FINAL THINGS: MORALITY AS ONE OF THE ULTIMATE DETERMINANTS OF LEGAL VALIDITY ; PART II - WHERE LAW AND MORALITY DIVERGE: LEGAL POSITIVISM REAFFIRMED ; CHAPTER 5: LEGAL POSITIVISM DEFENDED ; CHAPTER 6: ON THE MORAL STATUS OF THE RULE OF LAW ; CHAPTER 7: ON THE SEPARABILITY OF LAW AND MORALITY ; PART III - FROM LEGAL PHILOSOPHY TO MORAL PHILOSOPHY: AFFINITIES BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY ; CHAPTER 8: MORAL RIGHTS AND THE LIMITS OF THE 'OUGHT'-IMPLIES-'CAN' PRINCIPLE: WHY IMPECCABLE INTENTIONS ARE NO EXCUSE

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Book SynopsisExploring Law''s Empire is a collection of essays examining the work of Ronald Dworkin in the philosophy of law and constitutionalism. A group of leading legal theorists develop, defend and critique the major areas of Dworkin''s work, including his criticism of legal positivism, his theory of law as integrity, and his work on constitutional theory.The volume concludes with a lengthy response to the essays by Dworkin himself, which develops and clarifies many of his positions on the central questions of legal and constitutional theory. The volume represents an ideal companion for students and scholars embarking on a study of Dworkin''s work.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The International Constitutional Judge ; 1. Should Constitutional Judges Be Philosophers? ; 2. The Place of History and Philosophy in the Moral Reading of the American Constitution ; 3. How Constitutional Theory Found its Soul: The Contributions of Ronald Dworkin ; 4. Coherence, Hypothetical Cases, and Precedent ; 5. Integrity and Stare Decisis ; 6. The Many Faces of Political Integrity ; 7. Did Dworkin Ever Answer the Crits? ; 8. Associative Obligations and the Obligation to Obey the Law ; 9. Law's Aims in Law's Empire ; 10. How Facts Make Law ; 11. Hartian Positivism and Normative Facts: How Facts Make Law II ; Response

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Book SynopsisThe book sets out to examine some of the key features of what we describe as the paradox of constitutionalism: whether those who have the authority to make a constitution - the ''constituent power'' - can do so without effectively surrendering that authority to the institutional sites of power ''constituted'' by the constitutional form they enact. In particular, is the constituent power exhausted in the single constitutive act or does it retain a presence, acting as a critical check on the constitutional operating system and/or an alternative source of authority to be invoked in moments of crisis? These questions have been debated both in different national contexts and at the level of constitutional theory, and these debates are acknowledged and developed in the first two sections of the book. Part I includes chapters on how the question of constituent power has been treated in the constitutional histories of USA, France, UK and Germany, while Part II examines the question of constituTable of ContentsINTRODUCTION ; 1. Constituent Power and Reflexive Identity: Towards an Ontology of Collective Selfhood ; A CONCEPTUAL HISTORY OF CONSTITUENT POWER ; 2. Constituent Power Subverted: From English Constitutional Argument to British Constitutional Practice ; 3. Constituent Power and Constitutional Change in American Constitutionalism ; 4. Constituent Power in France: The Revolution and its Consequences ; 5. 'We are (afraid of) the people': Constituent Power in German Constitutionalism ; 6. People and Elites in Republican Constitutions, Traditional and Modern ; THE ARTICULATION OF CONSTITUENT POWER: RIVAL CONCEPTIONS ; 7. The Politics of the Question of Constituent Power ; 8. Private and Public Autonomy Revisited: Co-originality in Times of Globalization and the Militant Security State ; 9. Constitutionalism's Post-Modern Opening ; 10. Against Substitution: The Constitutional Thinking of Dissensus ; EXTENSION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF CONSTITUENT POWER ; 11. The Exercise of Constituent Power in Central and Eastern Europe ; 12. 'We the Peoples': Constituent Power and Constitutionalism in Plurinational States ; 13. Post-Constituent Constitutionalism? The Case of the European Union ; 14. 'We the Peoples of the United Nations': Constituent Power and Constitutional Form in International law ; 15. Constituent Power and the Pluralist Ethic ; 16. The Imperialism of Modern Constitutional Democracy

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Book SynopsisIn the two related works in this volume, Bentham offers a detailed critique of William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-9). He provides important refelctions on the nature of law, and more particularly on the nature of customary and statute law, and on judicial interpretation.Table of ContentsA COMMENT ON THE COMMENTARIES; A FRAGMENT ON GOVERNMENT

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Book SynopsisWe are said to face a crisis of over-criminalization: our criminal law has become chaotic, unprincipled, and over-expansive. This book proposes a normative theory of criminal law, and of criminalization, that shows how criminal law could be ordered, principled, and restrained. The theory is based on an account of criminal law as a distinctive legal practice that functions to declare and define a set of public wrongs, and to call to formal public account those who commit such wrongs; an account of the role that such practice can play in a democratic republic of free and equal citizens; and an account of the central features of such a political community, and of the way in which it constitutes its public realm-its civil order. Criminal law plays an important, but limited, role in such a political community in protecting, but also partly constituting, its civil order. On the basis of this account, we can see how such a political community will decide what kinds of conduct should be criminalized - not by applying one or more of the substantive master principles that theorists have offered, but by considering which kinds of conduct fall within its public realm (as distinct from the private realms that are not the polity''s business), and which kinds of wrong within that realm require this distinctive kind of response (rather than one of the other kinds of available response). The outcome of such a deliberative process will probably be a more limited, and a more rational and principled, criminal law.Trade ReviewDuff's The Realm of Criminal Law offers an appealing moral reconstruction of the criminal law. * Alec Walen, Rutgers University, Criminal Law and Philosophy *R.A. Duff's The Realm of the Criminal Law advances the literature on criminalization by providing the most thorough exploration and defence yet provided of the intuitively attractive idea that criminalization is properly limited to public wrongs only [...] The international community of criminal law theory owes Antony a huge debt. He is not only one of the preeminent scholars in this field, he has also done so much to build and shape it as a community. The Realm of Criminal Law Theory is a civil order in which Antony has played a leading role. And while Antony's politics are avowedly egalitarian, academic esteem is not, and he is surely one of the high priests of that community. * Patrick Tomlin, University of Warwick, Criminal Law and Philosophy *In his magnificent new work, The Realm of Criminal Law, Antony Duff has important things to say about a host of central issues in the philosophy of criminal law. * Stuart P. Green, Rutgers Law School, Criminal Law and Philosophy *Table of Contents1: Criminal Law 2: Legal Moralism and Public Wrongs 3: Citizenship and the Criminal Law 4: Civil Order and the Public Realm 5: A Liberal Republic and its Criminal Law 6: Master Principles of Criminalization? 7: Criminalization and Civil Order 8: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis central volume in the Collected Essays brings together John Finnis''s wide-ranging contribution to fundamental issues in political philosophy.The volume begins by examining the general theory of political community and social justice. It includes the powerful and well-known Maccabaean Lecture on Bills of Rights -- a searching critique of Ronald Dworkin''s moral-political arguments and conclusions, of the European Court of Human Rights'' approach to fundamental rights, and of judicial review as a constitutional institution. It is followed by an equally searching analysis of Kant''s thought on the intersection of law, right, and ethics. Other papers in the book''s opening section include an early assessment of Rawls''s A Theory of Justice, foundational discussions of migration rights, national boundaries, and the rights of non-citizens, and a challenging paper on virtue and the constitution. The volume then focuses on central problems in modern political communities, including the pTable of ContentsHUMAN RIGHTS AND COMMON GOOD: GENERAL THEORY ; JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENT ; WAR AND JUSTICE ; AUTONOMY, EUTHANASIA, AND JUSTICE ; AUTONOMY, IVF, ABORTION, AND JUSTICE ; MARRIAGE, JUSTICE, AND THE COMMON GOOD

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Book SynopsisAt the heart of this book is the age-old question of how law and morality are related. The legal positivist, insisting on the separation of the two, explicates the concept of law independently of morality. The author challenges this view, arguing that there are, first, conceptually necessary connections between law and morality and, second, normative reasons for including moral elements in the concept of law. While the conceptual argument alone is too limited to establish a sufficiently strong connection between law and morality, and the normative argument alone fails to address the nature of law, the two arguments together support a nonpositivistic concept of law, toppling legal positivism qua comprehensive theory of law.The author makes his case within a conceptual framework of five distinctions that can be variously combined to represent a multiplicity of presuppositions or perspectives underlying the enquiry into the relationship of law and morality. In this context, it can indeed Trade ReviewReview from previous edition ... a valuable addition to the English literature ... as a refreshingly balanced view on the virtues and limitations of the positivist project from beyond the trenches of the Anglo-American debate, it should be at or near the top of any reading list on key issues in contemporary jurisprudence. * Legal Studies *It is a delight to see Robert Alexy's Begriff und Geltung des Rechts in English translation. All the more so because the remarkable translation skills of Bonnie Litschewski Paulson and Stanley L. Paulson have contributed to a sharpening of many of the arguments in the book...it is by far the most mature statement of Alexy's ideas on the concept of law while serving very well as a retrospective introduction to the philosophical problems in response to which he developed the discourse theory of law in the first place...The Argument from Injustice is a major contribution to the non-positivist literature. It will become a standard reference for future research in normative jurisprudence. * George Pavlakos, The Modern Law Review 67 (2), 2004 *Table of ContentsI THE PROBLEM OF LEGAL POSITIVISM ; 1. The Basic Positions ; 2. The Practical Significance of the Debate ; II THE CONCEPT OF LAW ; 1. Central Elements ; 2. Positivistic Concepts of Law ; 3. Critique of Positivistic Concepts of Law ; III THE VALIDITY OF LAW ; 1. Concepts of Validity ; 2. Collisions of Validity ; 3. Basic Norm ; IV DEFINITION

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Book SynopsisKok-Chor Tan addresses three key questions in egalitarian distributive justice: Where does distributive equality matter?; Why does it matter?; And among whom does it matter? He argues for an institutional site for egalitarian justice, and suggests that the mitigation of arbitrariness or luck is the basis for distributive commitments. He also argues that distributive obligations are global in scope, applying between individuals across borders. Tan''s objectives are tripartite: to clarify the basis of an institutional approach to justice; to establish luck egalitarianism as an account of the ground of equality; and to realize the global nature of egalitarian justice. The outcome is ''institutional luck egalitarianism''--a new cosmopolitan position on distributive justice.Trade ReviewTan's book is exceptionally clear, thoughtful, and innovative, and it should not be ignored by anyone interested in egalitarianism and distributive justice more generally. * Jonathan Quong, Ethics *The book engages with three important questions, and deals with them in great detail and with admirable even-handedness. * Chris Armstrong, Social Theory and Practice *...offers one of the most systematic and nuanced treatments to date of a global luck egalitarian approach, and it adds important clarity to the ongoing dialogue about just how global distributive justice can and should be conceived. Further, Tan's writing is a model of both precision and accessibility. He is adept at showing what is at stake in major debates and at identifying and leading the reader through important positions in them. This book would make an excellent teaching tool. * Luis Cabrera, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsPART I. INSTITUTIONS ; PART II. LUCK ; PART III. GLOBAL JUSTICE

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Book SynopsisDebate has long been waged over the morality of capital punishment, with standard arguments in its favour being marshalled against familiar arguments that oppose the practice. In The Ethics of Capital Punishment, Matthew Kramer takes a fresh look at the philosophical arguments on which the legitimacy of the death penalty stands or falls, and he develops a novel justification of that penalty for a limited range of cases.The book pursues both a project of critical debunking of the familiar rationales for capital punishment and a project of partial vindication. The critical part presents some accessible and engaging critiques of major arguments that have been offered in support of the death penalty. These chapters, suitable for use in teaching courses on capital punishment, valuably take issue with positions at the heart of contemporary debates over the morality of such punishment.The book then presents an original justification for executing truly terrible criminals, a justification that is free-standing rather than an aspect or offshoot of a general theory of punishment. Its purgative rationale, which has not heretofore been propounded in any current philosophical and practical debates over the death penalty, derives from a philosophical reconception of the nature of evil and the nature of defilement.As the book contributes to philosophical discussions of those phenomena, it also contributes importantly to general normative ethics with sustained reflections on the differences between consequentialist approaches to punishment and deontological approaches. Above all, the volume contributes to the philosophy of criminal law with a fresh rationale for the use of the death penalty and with probing assessments of all the major theories of punishment that have been broached by jurists and philosophers for centuries. Although the book is a work of philosophy by a professional philosopher, it is readily accessible to readers who have not studied philosophy. It will stir both philosophers and anyone engaged with the death penalty to reconsider whether the institution of capital punishment can be an appropriate response to extreme evil.Trade ReviewHannah Arendt ends ^iEichmann in Jerusalem^r with a statement about the sentencing of Adolf Eichmann: "we find that no one, that is, no member of the human race, can be expected to want to share the earth with you." Kramer's excellent new book develops an original line of argument that echoes that Arendtian sentiment into what he calls the purgative justification for capital punishment....Kramer's book is a well-argued and inventive work that will generate new avenues of discussion in legal and moral philosophy. * Eric M. Rovie, Political Studies Review *Matthew Kramer's book ^iThe Ethics of Capital Punishment^r is a significant achievement. Not only does it offer a thorough and up-to-date discussion of traditional justifications for the death penalty, it also attempts to offer an alternative, novel justification for it, something that Kramer calls the purgative rationale. Although I am not entirely sympathetic to this aim, I think that carving out a new territory within this already crowded intellectual space is something which ought to be commended. * John Danaher, Philosophical Disquisitions *In this bold philosophical inquiry, Professor Matthew Kramer develops a justification for the death penalty as a sui generis concept: the purgative rationale. After grappling with and rebutting the standard justifications for capital punishment deterrence, retributivism, incapacitation, and denunciation Professor Kramer develops the purgative rationale, arguing that a community is tainted in other words, its moral integrity is lessened by the continuing existence of anyone who has perpetrated some especially hideous crimes. * Harvard Law Review *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. Deterrence through Capital Punishment ; 3. Death and Retribution ; 4. Death as Incapacitation ; 5. Death as a Means of Denunciation ; 6. The Purgative Rationale for Capital Punishment ; 7. The Death Penalty in Operation

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Book SynopsisFifty years on from its original publication, HLA Hart''s The Concept of Law is widely recognized as the most important work of legal philosophy published in the twentieth century, and remains the starting point for most students coming to the subject for the first time.In this third edition, Leslie Green provides a new introduction that sets the book in the context of subsequent developments in social and political philosophy, clarifying misunderstandings of Hart''s project and highlighting central tensions and problems in the work.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Persistent Questions ; 2. Laws, Commands, and Orders ; 3. The Variety of Laws ; 4. Sovereign and Subject ; 5. Law as the Union of Primary and Secondary Rules ; 6. The Foundations of a Legal System ; 7. Formalism and Rule-Scepticism ; 8. Justice and Morality ; 9. Laws and Morals ; 10. International Law ; Postscript

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Book SynopsisStephen Darwall presents a series of essays that explore the view that central moral concepts are irreducibly second-personal, in that they entail mutual accountability and the authority to address demands. He illustrates the power of the second-personal framework to illuminate a wide variety of issues in moral, political, and legal philosophy. Section I concerns morality: its distinctiveness among normative concepts; the metaethics of ''bipolar obligations'' (owed to someone); the relation between moral obligation''s form and the substance of our obligations; whether the fact that an action is wrong is itself a reason against action (as opposed to simply entailing that sufficient moral reasons independently exist); and whether morality requires general principles or might be irreducibly particularistic. Section II consists of two essays on autonomy: one discussing the relation between Kant''s ''autonomy of the will'' and the right to autonomy, and another arguing that what makes an agTable of ContentsIntroduction ; I: MORALITY ; 1. Morality's Distinctiveness ; 2. Bipolar Obligation ; 3. Moral Obligation: Form and Substance ; 4. 'But It Would Be Wrong' ; 5. Morality and Principle ; II: AUTONOMY ; 6. Because I Want It ; 7. The Value of Autonomy and Autonomy of the Will ; III: AUTHORITY AND LAW ; 8. Authority and Second-Personal Reasons for Acting ; 9. Authority and Reasons: Exclusionary and Second Personal ; 10. Law and the Second-Person Standpoint ; 11. Civil Recourse as Mutual Accountability (co-authored with Julian Darwall) ; Works Cited ; Index

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Book SynopsisAre companies, churches, and states genuine agents? Or are they just collections of individual agents that give a misleading impression of unity? This question is important, since the answer dictates how we should go about explaining the behaviour of these entities and whether we should treat them as responsible and accountable in the manner of individuals. Group Agency offers a new approach to that question and is relevant, therefore, in a range of fields from philosophy to law, politics, and the social sciences. Christian List and Philip Pettit take the line that there really are group or corporate agents, over and above the individual agents who compose them, and that a proper social science and a proper approach to law, morality, and politics have to take account of this fact. Unlike some earlier defences of group agency, their account is entirely unmysterious in character and, despite not being technically difficult, is grounded in cutting-edge work in social choice theory, economTrade ReviewWithout a doubt, List and Pettit accomplish their threefold task of establishing the logical possibility of group agents, explaining the relation of design to the performance of group agents, and arguing in favour of holding these agents morally responsible ... there is a great deal to learn from this book and it ought to be required reading for anyone interested in group agency and responsibility. * Zachary J. Goldberg, The Philosophical Quarterly *Group Agency is convincing and illuminating. * David-Hillel Ruben, Times Literary Supplement *fascinating and enjoyable ... there is much to ponder, and much to learn from, in this lively work. * Thomas H. Smith, Mind *the judgement aggregation problem is a significant and neglected aspect of group agency, and List and Pettits discussion of this problem is important and enlightening. * Robert Sugden, Economics and Philosophy *Table of ContentsI: THE LOGICAL POSSIBILITY OF GROUP AGENTS ; II: THE ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN OF GROUP AGENTS ; III: THE NORMATIVE STATUS OF GROUP AGENTS

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Book SynopsisOxford Studies in the Philosophy of Law is an annual forum for some of the best new philosophical work on law, by both senior and junior scholars from around the world. The essays range widely over issues in general jurisprudence (the nature of law, adjudication, and legal reasoning), the philosophical foundations of specific areas of law (from criminal law to evidence to international law), the history of legal philosophy, and related philosophical topics that illuminate the problems of legal theory. OSPL will be essential reading for philosophers, academic lawyers, political scientists, and historians of law who wish to keep up with the latest developments in this flourishing field.Table of Contents1. Political Authority and Political Obligation ; 2. How to Hold the Social Fact Thesis: A Reply to Greenberg and Toh ; 3. John Austin on Punishment ; 4. Publicity and the Rule of Law ; 5. Hart and Kelsen on International Law ; 6. Relational Reasons and the Criminal Law ; 7. Fairness and the Justifying Aim of Punishment ; 8. The Embedding Social Context of Promises and Contracts ; 9. Legal Sex

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Book SynopsisWhen should we follow the law? How can we know what law''s words mean? What ^iis^r law? ^b^iLaw''s Evolution and Human Understanding^r^r presents fresh and surprising answers to these questions. In an account alive with the stories of our shared human history, Laurence Claus explains why we should discard the old idea that legal rules tell us what to do, and instead see law as a system of sayings that evolves among humans to help us better ^iunderstand each other^r.When driving on public roads, when buying and selling, and in countless other aspects of our work and play, we depend on law to let us know what other people are likely to do and to expect of us. Through fast-paced pages of anecdote and argument, ^b^iLaw''s Evolution and Human Understanding^r^r explains the revolutionary consequences of seeing law as truly what Oliver Wendell Holmes called it: systematized prediction. The book reveals how this vision of law can transform our thinking about the way we make moral decisions, abTrade ReviewThe law of a community is an expression of its customs. Law evolves rather than being created. But what of such concepts as authority, legitimacy, and sovereignty within such a bottom-up approach to law? Claus's beautifully written book not only illustrates the answers with well-chosen examples, but sets the historical and philosophical scene with admirable panache. * Professor Ken Binmore, University College London *This superb book explains how words become law. The key to the success of the argument is finding the right 'level' at which to make this seemingly simple (but quite difficult) argument. Each chapter has something new and interesting. Claus's discussion of the concept of 'Authority' is one of the best in the literature. * Professor Dennis Patterson, Eu ropean University Institute *Using everyday examples, Laurence Claus provocatively defends the idea that law just is the systematic prediction of how people are likely to behave, useful as a technique of coordinating action in a complex society. His discussion of questions about law's authority, constitutional interpretation, and the "duty" to obey the law illuminate topics that have preoccupied jurisprudence for generations. * Professor Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School *Table of Contents1. What Makes Words Law? ; 2. How Law Grows Up in a Group ; 3. The Invention of <"Because I Said So>" ; 4. The Empty Idea of Authority ; 5. Ideas that Endure ; 6. When Should We Do What Law Signals? ; 7. How Law Works ; 8. Evolution and Revolution ; 9. Reading to Understand Each Other ; 10. The Life of the Law ; Notes ; Acknowledgments ; Index

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Book SynopsisWhat does it mean when civil lawyers and common lawyers think differently? In Charting the Divide between Common and Civil Law, Thomas Lundmark provides a comprehensive introduction to the uses, purposes, and approaches to studying civil and common law in a comparative legal framework. Superbly organized and exhaustively written, this volume covers the jurisdictions of Germany, Sweden, England and Wales, and the United States, and includes a discussion of each country''s legal issues, structure, and their general rules. Professor Lundmark also explores the discipline of comparative legal studies, rectifying many of the misconceptions and prejudices that cloud our understanding of the divide between the common law and civil law traditions. Students of international law, comparative law, social philosophy, and legal theory will find this volume a valuable introduction to common and civil law. Lawyers, judges, political scientists, historians, and philosophers will also find this book valTrade ReviewThomas Lundmark rightly challenges taxonomic and static appreciation of 'legal families' in the world and does so in the most effective manner, through detailed and informed appreciation of the institutions of specific jurisdictions... The treatment is erudite and cosmopolitan, the conclusions irresistible. It is a splendid book. * H. Patrick Glenn, Peter M. Laing Professor of Law, McGill University *Thomas Lundmark explains what makes legal systems unique and questions the value of the conventional distinction between 'civil law' and 'common law' systems. He illustrates this through an impressive survey of scholarship, particularly on Germany and the USA, as well as England and Wales and Sweden. He offers a sophisticated picture of legal reasoning that includes the structure of language and jurisprudential traditions, professions, and the interpretation of statues and precedents. He demonstrates convincingly that such a picture reveals the individuality of legal systems and the need to avoid traditional stereotypes in the classification of legal families. * John Bell, Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, UK *This book is different! It is not about comparison at the level of specific doctrines of private law such as contract or tort law. Instead, it reaches out to the structural level and touches the very core of the different approaches that we can discern between Common Law and Civil Law. Lundmark's book offers new and fascinating deeper insights even to a reader who has been engaged in comparative law from an academic as well as from a practical aspect for decades. * Professor Dr. Ingeborg Schwenzer, LL.M., Basel, Switzerland *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION ; CHAPTER ONE: The Discipline of Comparative Law ; CHAPTER TWO: Comparative Legal Linguistics ; CHAPTER THREE: Comparative Jurisprudence ; CHAPTER FOUR: Lawyers ; CHAPTER FIVE: Judges and Judiciaries ; CHAPTER SIX: Lay Judges and Juries ; CHAPTER SEVEN: Legal Reasoning ; CHAPTER EIGHT: Statutes and their Construction ; CHAPTER NINE: Judicial Precedents ; CONCLUSION

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Book SynopsisLaw, Person, and Community: Philosophical, Theological, and Comparative Perspectives on Canon Law takes up the fundamental question What is law? through a comparative study of canon law and secular legal theory. Canon law is analogous to the concept of law described by secular theorists such as Austin, Kelsen, Holmes, and H. L. A. Hart. Consistent with the secular concept, canon law aims to set a societal order that harmonizes the interests of individuals and communities, secures peace, guarantees freedom, and establishes justice. At the same time, canon law reflects a claim about the spiritual end of the human person and religious nature of community.The comparison of one of the world''s ancient systems of religious law with contemporary conceptions of law rooted in secular theory raises questions about the law''s power to bind individuals and communities. For example, to what extent, does each of the approaches to law reflect the theory of Austin which understands law as a command giTrade Review[This book is] a timely and an excellent consideration on these themes and should be required reading for all jurists. * James Campbell, The Heythrop Journal *Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTS ; Preface and Acknowledgments ; Abbreviations ; Introduction ; I. Knowledge ; II. Law ; III. Person ; IV. Community ; V. An Overview of This Study ; Chapter 1 Canon Law and Anthropology ; I. Anthropology and the Foundation of Law ; II. Anthropological Characteristics ; A. Human Nature ; B. The Body ; C. The Soul ; D. Reason ; E. Affect ; F. Conscience ; G. Free Will ; H. Memory ; I. The Person as Social Being ; J. The End of the Human Person ; III. Conclusion ; Chapter 2 Canon Law and Theology ; I. Canon Law: Ordinance of Faith and Reason ; A. Biblical Anthropology ; B. Historical and Ontological in Canon Law ; C. Anthropology and Revelation ; D. Epistemology and Canon Law ; II. The Theological Justification of Canon Law ; A. Thomas, Luther, and Calvin ; B. Charism and Institution ; C. Communio and Canon Law ; III. Conclusion ; Chapter 3 Canon Law and Natural Law ; I. Human Nature as a Foundation for Law ; A. The New Natural Law Theory ; B. The Function of Natural Law in Canon Law ; C. The Relation Between Natural Law and Theology in Canon Law ; II. Classical and Modern Conceptions of Law and Reason ; A. The Classical Understandings of Law and Reason ; B. Law and Competing Modern Conceptions of Reason ; III. Conclusion ; Chapter 4 Canonical Equity ; I. Historical Development of Canonical Equity ; A. The Medieval Canonists ; B. St. Thomas and Suarez ; C. The Standard of Canonical Equity ; II. Canonical Equity in the Twentieth Century Codes ; A. Expressed Equity ; B. The Equitable Character of the Statute ; C. Unwritten Equity ; III. Historical Consciousness and the Objectivity of Canon Law ; IV. Conclusion ; Chapter 5 Development in Canon Law ; I. The Development of Canon Law and the Development of Doctrine ; A. Newman's Anthropological Analogy ; B. Papal Primacy ; 1. Sacred Scripture and Tradition ; 2. Head and Body ; 3. The CIC-1983 ; II. Fundamental Rights in the CIC-1983 ; A. The Meaning of Ius ; B. The Doctrine of Human Dignity and Human Rights Law ; C. The Natural Foundation of Human Rights ; D. The Theological Foundation of Human Rights ; III. A Comparison of Development in Canon Law with Positivism's Secondary Rules ; IV. Conclusion ; Chapter 6 Personalism in Marriage ; I. The Goods of Marriage ; II. The Classical Understanding of Marriage and Secularization ; A. The Medieval Theory of Marriage ; B. The Demise of the Classical Understanding ; III. The Development of the Personalist Perspective in Canon Law ; A. Personalism and Vatican II ; B. Jurisprudence of the Roman Rota ; IV. Conclusion ; Chapter 7 Canon Law and the Secular State ; I. Traditional and Modern Views of Church State Relations ; II. Anthropological Assumptions and the First Amendment ; A. Theological Anthropology ; B. Rationalist Anthropology ; III. The Catholic Schools and the First Amendment ; A. Schools and the One Best System ; B. Strict-Separationism ; C. Problems with Public Policy by Judicial Review ; IV. Conclusion ; Chapter 8 The Impact of Neutral Rules on Hierarchical Churches ; I. The Supreme Court's Neutral Rules Approach ; A. Judicial Deference to Hierarchical Churches ; B. Neutral Rules ; C. Problems with Neutrality ; II. Questions about the Impact of Neutral Rules on Hierarchical Churches ; A. The Secular Court's Competency Over Church Doctrine and Law ; B. Congregational v. Hierarchical Church Government ; C. Tort Liability for Essentially Religious Decisions ; D. Excessive Entanglement and Judicial Review ; E. Generally Applicable Law and Religious Freedom ; III. Conclusion ; Conclusion ; I. Law ; II. Person ; III. Community

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Book SynopsisCan wrongs be righted? Can we make up for our misdeeds, or does the impossibility of changing the past mean that we remain permanently guilty? While atonement is traditionally considered a theological topic, Making Amends uses the resources of secular moral philosophy to explore the possibility of correcting the wrongs we do to one another.Philosophers generally approach the problem of past wrongdoing from the point of view of either a judge or a victim. They assume that wrongdoing can only be resolved through punishment or forgiveness. But this book explores the responses that wrongdoers can and should make to their own misdeeds, responses such as apology, repentance, reparations, and self-punishment. Making Amends explores the possibility of atonement in a broad spectrum of contexts--from cases of relatively minor wrongs in personal relationships, to crimes, to the historical injustices of our political and religious communities. It argues that wrongdoers often have the ability to eaTrade ReviewRadzik expertly and critically examines theories of atonement as moral transformation and as debt repayment * Charles L. Grisworld, Times Literary Supplement *Linda Radzik makes a valuable contribution to a small, but important and rapidly growing body of philosophy on the aftermath of wrongdoing ... highly engaging at the levels of both theorizing and moralizing, and I can hardly do justice to the range of ideas and questions Radzik raises. * Adrienne M. Martin, Mind *Table of ContentsNOTES; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX

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Book SynopsisAs neuroscientific technologies continue to develop and inform our understanding of the mind, the opportunities for applying neuroscience in legal proceedings have also increased. Cognitive neuroscientists have deepened our understanding of the complex relationship between the mind and the brain by using new techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). The inferences drawn from these findings and increasingly sophisticated technologies are being applied to debates and processes in the legal field, from lie detection in criminal trials to critical legal doctrines surrounding the insanity defense or guilt adjudication.In Minds, Brains, and Law: The Conceptual Foundations of Law and Neuroscience, Michael S. Pardo and Dennis Patterson assess the philosophical questions that arise when neuroscientific research and technology are applied in the legal system. They examine the arguments favoring the increased use of neuroscience in law, the Trade ReviewWhere the book challenges and then soars is when you get to the parts that go to fundamental and foundational blocks of law (and legal theory), such as the nature of truth and presumptions of the human condition that go to responsibility, agency, and the like. Legal thinking has lagged behind moral philosophy in thinking through or at least thinking about these issues. You will learn a lot and certainly become wiser. * Joseph Weiler, Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of International Law *It is a valuable resource for policymakers and scholars in criminal law, constitutional law, and penal theory. I highly recommend this book for all academic law libraries for its in-depth philosophical discussion of neuroscience and legal theory. * Karen Breda, Law Library Journal *Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; Chapter One: Philosophical Issues ; I. The Conceptual and the Empirical ; II. Criterial and Inductive Evidence ; III. Unconscious Rule Following ; IV. Interpretation ; V. Knowledge ; VI. The Mereological Fallacy ; Chapter Two: The Concept of Mind ; I. Neuro-Reductionism ; II. Eliminative Materialism and the "Theory" of Folk Psychology ; III. Two Examples of Neuro-Reductionism and Its Implications for Law ; IV. Conceptions of Mind and the Role of Neuroscience in Law ; Chapter Three: Neuroscience and Legal Theory: Jurisprudence, Morality, and Economics ; I. Jurisprudence ; II. Emotion and Moral Judgments ; III. Mind, Moral Grammar, and Knowledge ; IV. Neuroeconomics ; Chapter Four: Brain-Based Lie Detection ; I. fMRI Lie Detection ; II. EEG Lie Detection ("Brain Fingerprinting") ; III. Analysis: Empirical, Conceptual, and Practical Issues ; Chapter Five: Criminal Law Doctrine ; I. Actus reus ; II. Mens rea ; III. Insanity ; Chapter Six: Criminal Procedure ; I. Fourth Amendment ; II. Fifth Amendment ; III. Due Process ; Chapter Seven: Theories of Criminal Punishment ; I. A Brief Taxonomy of Theories of Criminal Punishment ; II. The First Challenge: Brains and Punishment Decisions ; III. The Second Challenge: Neuroscience and Intuitions about Punishment ; Conclusion ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisWriters on human dignity roughly divide between those who stress the social origins of this concept and its role in marking rank and hierarchy, and those who follow Kant in grounding dignity in an abstract and idealized philosophical conception of human beings. In these lectures, Jeremy Waldron contrives to combine attractive features of both strands. In the first lecture, Waldron presents a conception of dignity that preserves its ancient association with rank and station, thus allowing him to tap rich historical resources while avoiding what many perceive as the excessive abstraction and dubious metaphysics of the Kantian strand. At the same time he argues for a conception of human dignity that amounts to a generalization of high status across all human beings, and so attains the appealing universality of the Kantian position. The second lecture focuses particularly on the importance of dignity - understood in this way - as a status defining persons'' relation to law: their presentatTrade ReviewWaldrons take on human dignity is novel. It contains a bold inversion of almost all philosophical treatments of dignity as something like a metaphysical ground for moral claims. * Matthew Noah Smith, Oxford Journals Clippings: Analysis *Waldron's take on human dignity is novel. It contains a bold inversion of almost all philosophical treatments of dignity as something like a metaphysical ground for moral claims. Waldron eschews this approach by understanding dignity as a substantive and structural feature of the way that legal orders establish rank and statusELthis bold approach allows Waldron to move forward a much-needed philosophical conversation about this deeply interesting and important concept. * Analysis *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Meir Dan-Cohen ; Dignity, Rank, and Rights ; Jeremy Waldron ; 1. Dignity and Rank ; 2. Law, Dignity and Self-Control ; Comments ; Response to Jeremy Waldron ; Wai Chee Dimock ; Aristocratic Dignity? ; Don Herzog ; Dignity, Rank and Rights ; Michael Rosen ; Reply to Commentators ; Jeremy Waldron ; Reply ; Index

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Book SynopsisIn this insightful collection, a broad range of scholars analyzes a core issue for socio-legal studies, what is understood by the 'socio' of the 'socio-legal'. Drawing from legal theory, cultural studies, and social policy, the collection's wide scope of themes and topics provides an important stock-take and analysis of the socio-legal field.Trade Review"For those interested in understanding the study of socio and sociolegal studies and beyond, this book is invaluable." - Reviewed by Aaron R.S. Lorenz, Dean, School of Social Science and Human Services in Law and Society ReviewTable of Contents1. Exploring the 'Socio' of Socio-Legal Studies; Dermot Feenan.- 2. What Makes a Social Science of Law? Doubling the Social in Socio-Legal Studies; Susan S. Silbey.- 3. The Contested Social; John Clarke.- 4. Law, Ethics and Socio-history: The Case of Freedom; Alan Norrie.- 5. De Lege Ferenda: What is the 'Socio' of Legal Reasoning?; Panu Minkkinen.- 6. Reimagining the Humanities: Socio-Legal Scholarship in an Age of Disenhancement; Julia J.A. Shaw .- 7. Transnational Legal Processes and the (Re)construction of the 'Social: The Case of Human Trafficking; David Nelken.- 8. Addressing a 'Globalised Social': Mobilization of Law in Global Networks with Reference to Biofuel Production in Indonesia; Jacqueline Vel and Adriaan Bedner.- 9. Social Practice and Socio-Legal Studies; Hilary Sommerlad.- 10. The Gendered 'Socio' of Socio-Legal Studies; Rosemary Hunter.- 11. Queer Sociality; Sally R. Munt.- 12. Bringing Society to Law: A Critically Raced Accounting; Francisco Valdes.- 13. From Responsible Saver to Stewarded Investor?; Sally Wheeler.

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Book SynopsisIn this volume, scholars from the worlds of law and literature take a probing look at how and why stories are told in the law. Experts discuss how narratives presented in trials and in Supreme Court opinions are told and listened to, and how they affect legal thinking and judgement.

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Book SynopsisExplores the formation of the British state and national identity from 1603-1820 by examining the definitions of sovereignty and allegiance presented in treason trials. The king's person remained central to national identity and the state until republican challenges forced prosecutors in treason trials to innovate and redefine sovereign authority.Trade Review'In Defining a British State , Lisa Steffen has given us both a valuable insight into the law of high treason and its use in Stuart and Hanoverian England, and a thought-provoking discussion of the meanings behind the doctrine. She shows how a medieval English law designed to maintain the personal bond of allegiance to the sovereign was flexible enough to be used against Scots professing continued allegiance to their de jure king, in order to secure the Hanoverian succession against Jacobite attacks, but proved harder to use when the government sought to convict enemies of the state whose target was not the king. Her discussion is an important one, for both legal and political historians, and makes a useful contribution to the ongoing debate about the nature of the state in the eighteenth century.' - Michael Lobban, Brunel UniversityTable of ContentsAuthor's Note and Acknowledgements Introduction Treason, Allegiance and Sovereignty in England, 1608-1688 Dynastic Treason: National Identity after the Glorious Revolution A British Law of Treason, 1709-1783 Republican Treason and National Identity in the 1790s The 'General Safety of the State': Treason from 1816-1820 Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisCriminalisation.- Grounds for (Principles of) Criminalisation.- Harm Principle A Comparative Analysis.- Continental Counterparts to the Anglo-American Concept of the Harm Principle.- Conclusion Final Evaluation.- Some Criminological Afterthoughts.Table of ContentsI. Introduction The thesis’ starting point and aim The method The structure The main starting hypotheses II. Criminalisation III. Grounds for (principles of) criminalisation Anglo-American legal system Legitimisation of the State Balancing approach Principled approach 1. Harm principle 2. Offence principle 3. Legal paternalism 4. Legal moralism Limitations on the principles of criminalisation Continental legal system Evaluation The legitimate grounds IV. Harm principle – A comparative analysis The definition of the harm principle Mill’s ‘Principle of Liberty’ Feinberg’s ‘Harm Principle’ The elements of the harm principle State intervention Causes or likely to cause (harm) (Harm) to others Mediating maxims The notion of ‘harm’ and translation equivalents The Anglo-American system 1. The formulation (the concept) 2. The substance (the conception) and the categorising of harm/seriousness of crime 3. Harm – victim 4. The a contrario and relational definition The Continental system – with emphasis on Slovenian and German criminal law The functions of the harm principle Limiting and delimiting A tool for criminal policy An aid to other criminal legal principles A post-delictum tool The nature of the harm principle Problems and open questions of the harm principle Problems with ‘harm’ Relationship harm – culpability The indeterminate scope 1. Self-regarding v. Other-regarding area 2. Not a ‘sufficient’ reason Potential for abuse (abusability of the harm principle) Some other criticisms Limitingfactors/principles V. Continental counterparts to the Anglo-American concept of the harm principle The Continental ‘general paradigm of the criminal offence’ Material unlawfulness – Wrong(ful)ness – Rechtswidrigkeit (Social) dangerousness Legal goods (Rechtsgüter) 1. The concept 2. The juxtaposition with the concept of harm 3. The history 4. Various schools of Rechtsgut theorists 5. The ‘legality’ of legal goods 6. Additional questions 7. Evaluation Classical criminal legal principles The legality principle The ultima ratio principle Proscribed consequence VI. Conclusion – Final evaluation The absence of a counterpart The appeal of the harm principle (In)sufficiency of the principle Feasibility of reception The mode of reception VII. Some criminological afterthoughts VIII. Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA discussion of how the judiciary should interpret the Constitution. Making use of arguments drawn from American history, political philosophy and literary theory, it examines what it means to interpret a written constitution and how the courts should go about the task.Trade ReviewOne of the most powerful defenses of original jurisprudence I have read....A remarkable achievement." - Rogers M. Smith, author of Liberalism and American Constitutional Law"Offers one of the best and most sophisticated arguments for originalism ever presented." —Review of Politics"Highly recommended for anyone interested in the foundations of American government and the judiciary." —Library Journal"For those fascinated by the intricacies of contemporary legal theory, this book should prove nearly indispensable." —Perspectives on Political Science

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Book SynopsisTo those who invoke them, rights are powerful instruments for settling arguments in favour of the right-holders. But the nature, provenance and justification of rights are uncertain and disputed and there are doubts about whether rights should play a distinctive and fundamental role in moral and political discourse. More recent disgreements have centred on group rights and on whether rights have a universal application across different cultures and moral traditions. These and other related issues are explored in depth by the essays in this volume, which are mostly drawn from a wide range of journals in philosophy, politics and law.Trade Review'..academics news to the field or readers who experience obstacles in accessing journals will appreciate this easy-to-manage selection.' Political Studies ReviewTable of ContentsContents: Recent work on the concept of rights, Rex Martin and James W. Nickel; In defence of moral rights, Joel Feinberg; On the nature of rights, J. Raz; Are there natural rights?, H.L.A. Hart; Rights, claimants, and beneficiaries, David Lyons; 2 concepts of rights, Philip Montague; A right to do wrong, Jeremy Waldron; Rights in conflict, Jeremy Waldron; Conflicts of rights: typology, Methodology, and nonconsequentialism, F.N. Kamm; Natural rights: Bentham and John Stuart Mill, H.L.A. Hart; Rights, goals, and fairness, T.M. Scanlon; Is there a right to pornography?, Ronald Dworkin; A defense of rights to well-being, Rodney Peffer; Between utility and rights, H.L.A. Hart ; What's so special about rights?, Allen Buchanan; Against rights, Richard J. Arneson; Group rights and group oppression, Peter Jones; The good the bad, and the intolerable, Will Kymlicka; Liberal rights and/or Confucian virtues?, Seung-hwan Lee; 'Asian values' and global human rights, Fred Dallmyr; A world consensus on human rights?, Charles Taylor; Minimalism about human rights: the most we can hope for?, Joshua Cohen; Index.

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Book SynopsisDemocracy and the rule of law are commonly represented as complementary and indispensable components of the modern democratic state. Whatever the truth of this formulation, it conceals the competing claims of electoral and legal accountability that are the subject of this volume. Political, legal and social theorists have long debated these contending claims. Recent socio-legal scholarship has shed empirical light on the debate. Accordingly, this volume brings together some of the landmarks of the relevant theory, including the work of such scholars as H.L.A. Hart, Lon L. Fuller and Philip Selznick and incorporates current socio-legal scholarship by such leading figures as Malcolm Feeley, Robert Kagan, Michael McCann and David Nelken.Trade Review'Scheingold's choice of articles to include in this volume, his imaginative interpretive essay, and the organization of the works included in the volume demonstrate how sociolegal empirical scholarship has and should address broad issues derived from political and legal theory.' -The Law an Politics Book Review, February 2007Table of ContentsContents: Series preface; Introduction. Rights, Legality and democracy: Rights: legal aspects, Michael McCann and Stuart Scheingold Classical Legality: Keeping Law Safe from Politics: Revisiting Fuller's critique of Hart-managerial control and the pathology of legal systems: the Hart-Weber nexus, James C. Ketchen; The forms and limits of adjudication, Lon L. Fuller; Sociology and natural law, Philip Selznick. Reconsidering the Classical Canon: Coping with Inequality: Why the 'haves' have come out ahead: speculations on the limits of legal change, Marc Galanter; Controlling official behavior in welfare administration, Joel Handler; The war on poverty: a civilian perspective, Edger S. Cahn and Jean C. Cahn; Public interest liberalism and the modern regulatory state, Michael W. McCann; Constitutional rights and social change: civil rights in perspective, Stuart A. Scheingold. The Case Against 'Adversarial Legalism': Reaffirming the Classical Canon: The passive virtues, Alexander M. Bickel; Decreeing organizational change; judicial supervision of public institutions, Donald L. Horowitz; Adversarial legalism and American government, Robert Kagan. In Defence of Politicization: 'Adversarial Legalism' Reconsidered: The passive-aggressive virtues: Cohens v. Virginia and the problematic establishment of judicial power, Mark Graber; The role of the judge in public law litigation, Abram Chayes; The prison conditions cases and the bureaucratization of American corrections: influences, impacts and implications, Malcolm M. Feeley and Van Swearingen; Legal mobilization and the politics of reform: lessons from school finance litigation in Kentucky, 1984-1995, Michael Paris; 25 years after Rodriguez: school finance litigation and the impact of the new judicial federalism, Douglas Reed. Legality, Equality and Democracy: Adversarial legalism: the American way of law, David Nelken; Index.

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Book Synopsis1. The Concept of Legal Systems.- 2. Speech Acts.- 3. Acts-in-the-Law.- 4. Negative Acts-in-the-Law.- 5. Logical Relations Between Legal Norms.- 6. General Norms and Rules.- 7. Legal Institutions.- Appendix A.- Apppendix B.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.Table of ContentsPreface. 1: The Concept of Legal Systems. I. Legal Validity. II. Basic Norm versus Rule of Recognition. III. The Formal Structure of Legal Systems. IV. Widening the Concept of Legal Systems. 2: Speech Acts. I. Major Concepts of Speech Act Theory. II. Declarative Speech Acts. III. Commitments as Presentations. IV. Presentations of Attempts and Purposes. V. Classification of Declarative Speech Acts. 3: Acts-in-the-Law. I. Testing the Classification of Declarative Speech Acts. II. Norms of Competence. 4: Negative Acts-in-the-Law. I. Illocutionary Denegation. II. Revocation and Invalidation. 5: Logical Relations between Legal Norms. I. Legal Norms. II. Acts-in-the-Law. 6: General Norms and Rules. I. General Norms and Rules of Conduct. II. General Norms and Rules. III. Abstract Acts-in-the-Law. 7: Legal Institutions. I. From Institutional Legal Fact to Legal Institution. II. Institutions and Legal Systems. Appendix A. Appendix B. Bibliography. Index of Names. Index of Subjects.

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