Synopses & Reviews
This leading anthology contains legal cases and essays written by the finest scholars in legal philosophy, representing all major points of view on the most central topics in philosophy of law. Its primary focus is to relate traditional themes of legal philosophy to the concerns of modern society in a way that invigorates one and illuminates the other, respectively. This classic text is distinguished by its clarity, balance of topics, balance of substantive positions on controversial questions, topical relevance, imaginative use of cases and stories, and the inclusion of only lightly edited or untouched classics. This revision is distinguished in its inclusion of many articles relevant to terrorism and torture, contract and property, and a greater emphasis on concrete legal problems.
About the Author
Joel Feinberg (Professor Emeritus, late of University of Arizona) was widely recognized as one of America?s leading political and social philosophers. Acclaimed both for his ground-breaking scholarship and his exemplary teaching skills, Feinberg published widely on topics such as individual rights, legal theory, capital punishment, the treatment of the mentally ill, civil disobedience, and environmental ethics. Before joining the University of Arizona faculty, he taught at Brown, Princeton, and Rockefeller universities. Feinberg was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1987?88 to work in Japan and served as chairman of the National Board of Officers in the American Philosophical Association in the mid-1980s. Some of the royalties from Reason and Responsibility have been used to establish the Regents Professor Joel Feinberg Dissertation Fellowship in Philosophy at the University of Arizona.Jules Coleman is Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld Professor of Jurisprudence and Philosophy at Yale Law School. His research has focused on the philosophy of law, political philosophy and the methodology of the social sciences. Within the philosophy of law, his scholarship has emphasized issues in jurisprudence and the nature of responsibility in the law. He has also done extensive work in political philosophy on the nature of authority, democracy, and the foundations of contractarianism. He has also written on the foundations on rational choice theory in its applications to economics, political theory and law.
Table of Contents
PART I: THE NATURE OF LAW A. The Natural Law Tradition. 1. Aquinas* selections from On Law, Morality and Politics. 2. Lon L. Fuller, Eight Ways to Fail to Make Laws. 3. Mark Murphy,* Natural Law Jurisprudence. 4. Bentham* (on Blackstone) Of Laws in General. 5. Lon Fuller, Speluncean Explorers. B. Legal Positivism. 1. John Austin, A Positivism Conception of Law. 2. H. L. A. Hart, Law at the Union of Primary and Secondary Laws. 3. Jules Coleman,* Negative and Positive Positivism. 4. Joseph Raz,* Institutionalized Normative Systems. C. Legal Realism and Skepticism. 1. Jerome Frank, Legal Realism. 2. Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Path of the Law. 3. Karl Llewelyn,* from The Bramble Bush. D. Principles and Legal Interpretation 1. Ronald Dworkin, Integrity in Law. 2. Antonin Scalia, Common-Law Courts in a Civil-Law System: The Role of United States Federal Courts in Interpreting the Constitution and Laws. 3. Ronald Dworkin, Comment. E. Critical Theory. 1. Jurgen Habermas, Constitutional Democracy: A Paradoxical Union of Contradictory Principles? 2. Catharine A. MacKinnon, Difference and Dominance: On Sex Discrimination. F. Is International Law, Law? 1. H. L. A. Hart,* Is International Law, Law? 2. Roper v. Simmons.* H. Is There a Moral Obligation to Obey the Law? 1. Plato, Crito. 2. M. B. E. Smith, Is There a Prima Facie Obligation to Obey the Law? 3. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail. PART II: THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF LAW. A. Liberty and Authority. 1. John Stuart Mill, The Liberal Argument from On Liberty. 2. Arthur Ripstein,* Beyond the Harm Principle. 3. Gerald Dworkin, Paternalism. B. Equality. 1. Harry Frankfurt,* Equality as a Moral Ideal. 2. Joseph Raz,* from The Morality of Freedom. 3. Kim Lane Scheppele, The Reasonable Woman. 4. State v. Rusk. 5. State v. Kelly. 6. Grutter v. Bollinger.* C. Rights. 1. Joel Feinberg, The Nature and Value of Rights. 2. Jules Coleman and Jody Kraus, Rethinking the Theory of Legal Rights. 3. H. L. A. Hart,* Are There Any Natural Rights? D. Privacy. 1. Robert H. Bork, The Right of Privacy: The Construction of a Constitutional Time-Bomb. 2. Leslie Green, Sexuality, Authenticity and Modernity. 3. Roe v. Wade. 4. Planned Parenthood of SE Pennsylvania v. Casey. 5. Lawrence v. Texas.* E. Freedom of Expression. 1. Catharine Mackinnon,* Not a Moral Issue. 2. Cohen v. California. 3. Village of Skokie v. National Socialist Party of America. 4. Pruneyard Shopping Center et al. v. Robins et al.* 5. Joel Feinberg, Offensive Nuisances. F. Terrorism and Torture. 1. Matt Smith,* The Moral Significance of Terrorism. 2. John Yoo,* Memorandum from John Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and Robert J. Delahunty, Special Counsel, Office of Legal Counsel, Dept of Justice, to William J. Haynes II, General Counsel, Department of Defense, Application of Treaties and Laws to al-Qaeda and Taliban Detainees (Jan 9 2002). 3. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.* 4. Alan Dershowitz,* Should the Ticking Bomb Terrorist Be Tortured? 5. Jeremy Waldron,* Torture and Positive Law: Jurisprudence for the White House. PART III: PHILOSOPHY AND THE LAW. A. General Principles of Responsibility. 1. H. L. A. Hart and A. M. Honore, Causation and Responsibility. 2. Joel Feinberg,* Action and Responsibility. 3. Honore, Responsibility and Luck: The Moral Basis of Strict Liability. B. Punishment and Responsibility. 1. Sanford S. Kadish and Stephen J. Schulhofer, The Case of Lady Eldons French Lace. 2. David Lewis, The Punishment that Leaves Something to Chance. 3. John Gardner,* The Gist of Excuses. 4. People v. Young. 5. State v. Guido. 6. The MNaughten Rules. 7. The American Law Institute, The Insanity Defense. 8. Joel Feinberg, The Classic Debate. 9. Joel Feinberg, The Expressive Function of Punishment. 10. Herbert Morris, Persons and Punishment. 11. Jeffrie Murphy and Jean Hampton,* from Forgiveness and Mercy. 12. Stephen Nathonson, Should We Execute Those Who Deserve To Die? 13. Furman v. Georgia. C. Torts and Compensation. 1. John Gardner, Obligations and Outcomes in the Law of Torts. 2. Stephen R. Perry, Loss, Agency, and Responsibility for Outcomes: Three Conceptions of Corrective Justice. 4. Jules Coleman and Arthur Ripstein, Mischief and Misfortune. 5. Seana Valentine Shiffrin,* Wrongful Life, Procreative Responsibility, and the Significance of Harm. 6. Palsgraf v. The Long Island Railroad Co. 7. Summers v. Tice. 8. Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories. 9. Mohr. V. Williams.* 10. Becker v. Schwartz.* D. Contract. 1. Anthony T. Kronman, Contract Law and Distributive Justice. 2. Fried,* from Contract as Promise. 3. Barnett,* Should the "Intention to Create Legal Relations" Be a Criterion of Enforceability? 4. Richard Craswell,* Contract Law, Default Rules, and the Philosophy of Promising. 5. Seana Shiffrin, Paternalism, Unconscionability Doctrine, and Accommodation. 6. In re Baby M.* 8. Mills v. Wyman.* 9. Sullivan v. OConnor.* E. Property 1. A. M. Honore,* Ownership. 2. John Locke,* from Ch V of Second Treatise on Government. 3. David Hume,* Treatise on Human Nature. 4. Jeremy Waldron,* Two Worries about Mixing Ones Labour. 5. Robert H. Lowie,* Incorporeal Property in Primitive Society. 6. A&M Records v. Napster.* 7. Diamond v. Chakrabarty.