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Building on many years of scholarship, Matthew H. Kramer sets out his definitive philosophical investigation of rights and rights-holding with this monograph, as he sometimes revisits and modifies his previous positions. Beginning with the analytical schema propounded by the American legal theorist Wesley Hohfeld, the book provides a defence of the proposition that every claim-right with a certain content is correlative to at least one duty with the same content and that every duty with a certain content is correlative to at least one claim-right with the same content. The volume then addresses the longstanding debates over the nature of right-holding, with a sustained defense of the Interest Theory and with some innovative critiques of the Will Theory. Finally, it considers the ethical and analytical questions involved in determining who can hold claim-rights at all. It argues that the beings capable of holding claim-rights include not only human adults of sound mind but also all other living human beings, many dead people, and all future generations of people, along with most non-human animals. Addressing some major topics within moral, legal, and political philosophy,Rights and Right-Holding: A Philosophical Investigation will be a key work for philosophers and academic lawyers alike.

Since its beginnings, legal process outsourcing has rapidly grown into a billion-dollar industry and is a coveted business model. In this model, legal professionals and law fi rms send legal work to other locations, both onshore and offshore. Despite increasing ethical concerns about the challenges it poses to the practice of law, legal process outsourcing has remained unregulated. This book critically discusses the ways in which outsourcing legal work challenges the legal and ethical codes underpinning the legal profession, and asks whether the introduction of a regulatory framework will assist in promoting accountability and eliminating ethical concerns. This book is the first to comprehensively analyse this practice, and it will appeal to a broad range of readers, including academics and researchers, legal practitioners, law students, and policymakers. It will also be of interest to members of the wider public who want to learn more about the legal process outsourcing business model and its global reach, advantages and ethical implications.

A much-needed account of the hierarchy of justice that defines China's unique political-legal culture. To many outsiders, China has an image as a realm of Oriental despotism where law is at best window dressing and at worst an instrument of coercion and tyranny. In this highly original contribution to the interdisciplinary field of law and humanities, Haiyan Lee contends that this image arises from a skewed understanding of China's political-legal culture, particularly the failure to distinguish what she calls high justice and low justice. In the Chinese legal imagination, Lee shows, justice is a vertical concept, with low justice between individuals firmly subordinated to the high justice of the state. China's political-legal culture is marked by a mistrust of law's powers, and as a result, it privileges substantive over procedural justice. Calling on a wide array of narratives—stories of crime and punishment, subterfuge and exposé, guilt and redemption—A Certain Justice helps us recognize the fight for justice outside the familiar arenas of liberal democracy and the rule of law.

A thought-provoking examination of how insights from neuroscience challenge deeply held assumptions about morality and law. As emerging neuroscientific insights change our understanding of what it means to be human, the law must grapple with monumental questions, both metaphysical and practical. Recent advances pose significant philosophical challenges: how do neuroscientific revelations redefine our conception of morality, and how should the law adjust accordingly? Trialectic takes account of those advances, arguing that they will challenge normative theory most profoundly. If all sentient beings are the coincidence of mechanical forces, as science suggests, then it follows that the time has come to reevaluate laws grounded in theories dependent on the immaterial that distinguish the mental and emotional from the physical. Legal expert Peter A. Alces contends that such theories are misguided—so misguided that they undermine law and, ultimately, human thriving. Building on the foundation outlined in his previous work, The Moral Conflict of Law and Neuroscience, Alces further investigates the implications for legal doctrine and practice.

How does law possess the normative force it requires to direct our actions?This book argues that this seemingly innocuous question is of central importance to the philosophy of law and, by extension, of the very concept of law itself. It advances a position grounded in the secular natural law tradition, and in doing so addresses the two success criteria for this position head on: Firstly, that commitment to the existence of a supreme moral principle is required; Secondly, that any supreme moral principle must be identifiable through human reason.The book argues that these conditions are met by Alan Gewirth's Principle of Generic Consistency (PGC), which – through a dialectically necessary argument – locates the existence of universally applicable moral norms in the concept of agency. Given the very purpose of law is to guide action, legal norms must be located in a unified hierarchy of practical reason. It follows that, if law is to succeed in claiming to be capable of guiding our action, moral permissibility with reference to the PGC is a necessary condition of a rule's legal validity. This strong theory of natural law is defended throughout, both against moral sceptics and positions within contemporary legal positivism.

In Dershowitz on Killing: How the Law Decides Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die, Alan Dershowitz—New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most respected legal scholars—examines the subjects of death, life, and the law. Alan Dershowitz has been called “one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in America” by Politico and “the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer and one of its most distinguished defenders of individual rights” by Newsweek. His legal career as a criminal defense lawyer has been deeply involved with death and life decisions.Dershowitz on Killing is a timely examination of issues and questions that are front and center in today's society. Employing a philosophical, moral, religious, and cultural lens to the legal aspects surrounding death and life, Dershowitz elucidates the role of government to determine who shall live and who shall die in declaring wars, ordering executions, authorizing deadly force, permitting or denying abortions, providing or mandating vaccines, controlling climate change, allowing or refusing asylum for endangered migrants, and other life and death rulings. He notes that when the government decides these choices, it is asked to do so by first determining whether a “right” is involved, because rights trump mere interest, just as constitutional restrictions trump legislative and executive actions. Dershowitz on Killing asserts that the rules governing death and life decisions should reflect the irreversibility of death. It is essential reading for anyone interested in or concerned about how these decisions are allocated among state and federal; executive, legislative, and judicial; private and governmental; religious and secular institutions—and how people in a democracy, through the power of the ballot, have the ultimate say in these critical decisions.

A powerful argument for the essential role of morality in law, getting at the heart of key debates in public life.What is law? And how does it relate to morality? It's common to think that law and morality are different ways of regulating our lives. But Scott Hershovitz says that this is a mistake: law is a part of our moral lives. It's a tool we use to adjust our moral relationships. The legal claims we advance in court, Hershovitz argues, are moral claims. And our legal conflicts are moral conflicts.Law Is a Moral Practice supplies fresh answers to fundamental questions about the nature of law and helps us better appreciate why we disagree about law so deeply. Reviving a neglected tradition of legal thought most famously associated with Ronald Dworkin, Hershovitz engages with important legal and political controversies of our time, including recent debates about constitutional interpretation and the obligations of citizens and officials to obey the law.Leavened by entertaining personal stories, guided by curiosity rather than ideology, moving beyond entrenched dichotomies like the opposition between positivism and natural law, Law Is a Moral Practice is a thought-provoking investigation of the philosophical issues behind real-world legal debates.

This open access book, summarising the research conducted at this Jean Monnet Chair, seeks to identify the ethical spirit of European Union (EU) values. EU integration began at the economic level; human rights were only added at a later stage. Finally, the Lisbon Treaty turned the EU into a ‘Union of values'by enshrining certain concepts in Art 2 TEU. This provision can be seen as a hub linked to various other provisions of EU primary and secondary law. The values contained therein have, amongst others, been applied to two areas (digitalisation and non-financial reporting, partly in sports), and further specified in others (health and partly in sports). This book analyses the evolution of values (ratione temporis) and the questions of who is entitled and who is obliged (ratione personae). Besides the external perspective (ratione limitis; e.g., Brexit), it focuses on the composition of the EU's common values (ratione materiae). As Art 2 TEU can be viewed as a hub, it is essential to focus on various relations, not only between values, but also between values and other provisions of EU law, as well as other concepts. Based on this description of the status quo, the book subsequently addresses a possible future direction, arguing for an additional narrative (trust), an additional value (environmental protection), and a more communitarian Union. In closing, apart from the classical commitment of the EU and the Member States to uphold the values of the EU, the book discusses the level of individuals and values as virtues. Various figures and tables complement this overview of the status quo of the Union of values and outline of its future direction.

After nearly fifty years as settled constitutional law, the federally protected right to an abortion in America is now a thing of the past. The Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade has left Americans without a guaranteed right to access abortion―and the cost of that upheaval will be most painfully felt by individuals who already struggle with access to resources: the poor, Black and brown communities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ population. Pulling together the experiences, expertise, and perspectives of more than 30 writers, thinkers, and activists, Aftermath: Life in Post-Roe America offers a searing look at the critical role Roe has played in improving women's and pregnant people's lives, what a future without Roe may look like, and what options exist for us to secure reproductive freedom in the future. With contributions from Jessica Valenti, Soraya Chemaly, Michele Goodwin, Alyssa Milano, Ruby Sales, Heather Cox Richardson, Robin Marty, Linda Villarosa, Jennifer Baumgardner and more, this anthology is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of reproductive rights in America―and beyond.

A strong and lively defense of substantive due process. From reproductive rights to marriage for same-sex couples, many of our basic liberties owe their protection to landmark Supreme Court decisions that have hinged on the doctrine of substantive due process. This doctrine is controversial—a battleground for opposing views around the relationship between law and morality in circumstances of moral pluralism—and is deeply vulnerable today. Against recurring charges that the practice of substantive due process is dangerously indeterminate and irredeemably undemocratic, Constructing Basic Liberties reveals the underlying coherence and structure of substantive due process and defends it as integral to our constitutional democracy. Reviewing the development of the doctrine over the last half-century, James E. Fleming rebuts popular arguments against substantive due process and shows that the Supreme Court has constructed basic liberties through common law constitutional interpretation: reasoning by analogy from one case to the next and making complex normative judgments about what basic liberties are significant for personal self-government. Elaborating key distinctions and tools for interpretation, Fleming makes a powerful case that substantive due process is a worthy practice that is based on the best understanding of our constitutional commitments to protecting ordered liberty and securing the status and benefits of equal citizenship for all.

The book examines some of the most important forms of normativity and the relation between facts and values in the context of criminological investigation. In recent decades numerous criminologists have argued that criminology needs to be more explicitly concerned with normative considerations and with morality and this book explains the plausibility of that view and of empirically rigorous non-positivist study of moral values. Hume is often regarded as a key figure in separating facts from values and he was a formidable opponent of moral rationalism. Yet, in his own moral philosophy he sought to explicate the genuineness and authority of moral considerations without endorsing some implausible positivist interpretations of a putative fact/value distinction. The significance of Hume's view and its implications for the empirical study of morality are explored.The book discusses several layers of normativity explored by criminological investigation including: The relation between law and morality the concept of the Rule of Law the normativity of the notion of criminality the justification of sanction the presence and significance of moral considerations This book will be of interest to students taking upper-level courses on criminal justice ethics, punishment, political theory, jurisprudence, and social philosophy.

Re-thinking Rights: Historical Development and Philosophical Justificationtakes a new look at the history of individual rights, focussing on the way that philosophers have written that history. The scholastics and early modern writers used the notion of natural rights to debate the big moral and political questions of the day, such as the treatment of Indigenous Americans under Spanish rule. John Locke put natural rights at the centre of liberal political thought. But as the idea grew in strength and influence, empiricist and positivist philosophers punctured it with attacks of logical incompetence and illegitimate appeals to theology and metaphysics. Philosophers then turned to law and jurisprudence for the philosophical analysis of rights, where it has largely stayed ever since. Eleanor Curran argues that the dominance of the Hohfeldian analysis of (legal) rights has restricted our understanding of moral and political rights and led to distorted readings of historical writers on rights. It has also led to the separation of right from the important related notion of liberty—freedoms are now seen as inferior to claims. Curran looks at recent philosophy of human rights and suggests a way forward for justifying universal moral and political rights and separating them from legal rights.

This Open Access book provides illustrative case studies that explore various research and innovation topics that raise challenges requiring ethical reflection and careful policymaking responses. The cases highlight diverse ethical challenges and provide lessons for the various options available for policymaking. Cases are drawn from many fields, including artificial intelligence, space science, energy, data protection, professional research practice and pandemic planning. Case studies are particularly helpful with ethical issues to provide crucial context. This book reflects the ambiguity of ethical dilemmas in contemporary policymaking. Analyses reflect current debates where consensus has not yet been achieved. These cases illustrate key points made throughout the PRO-RES EU-funded project from which they arise: that ethical judgement is a fluid enterprise, where values, principles and standards must constantly adjust to new situations, new events and new research developments. This book is an indispensable aid to policymaking that addresses, and/or uses evidence from, novel research developments.

'I diritti fondamentali si pongono a presidio della vita, che in nessuna sua manifestazione può essere attratta nel mondo delle merci'. Il volume rappresenta uno dei libri più importanti dell'intera produzione scientifica di Stefano Rodotà, in cui netta si manifesta l'intuizione che le profonde trasformazioni tecnologiche avrebbero cambiato il quadro dei diritti civili e politici, ridisegnato il ruolo dei poteri pubblici, mutato i rapporti personali e sociali, inciso sull'antropologia stessa delle persone. Pubblicato nel 1995, rappresentò un importante punto di svolta nello studio del diritto, sospingendolo fortemente alla ricerca di risposte efficaci di fronte alle rischiose conseguenze dell'innovazione. Da allora Rodotà sarà'il giurista delle nuove tecnologie', l'appassionato primo Garante della Privacy, l'instancabile difensore della dignità umana e dei diritti dei singoli, pericolosamente minacciati nella propria riservatezza e nella propria integrità anche corporea. La nuova edizione, curata dai suoi allievi, aggiornata nei contenuti, rimane inalterata nell'impianto e nello spirito. Seconda edizione a cura di G. Alpa, M.R. Marella, G. Marini, G. Resta

'What would happen if everyone acted that way?'This question is often used in everyday moral assessments, but it has a paradoxical quality: it draws not only on Kantian ideas of a universal moral law but also on consequentialist claims that what is right depends on the outcome. In this book, Alex Tuckness examines how the question came to be seen as paradoxical, tracing its history from the theistic approaches of the seventeenth century to the secular accounts of the present. Tuckness shows that the earlier interpretations were hybrid theories that included both consequentialist and non-consequentialist elements, and argues that contemporary uses of this approach will likewise need to combine consequentialist and non-consequentialist commitments.

This is a book of research and policy aimed at raising ethical standards in criminal justice practice. Around the world, corruption continues to undermine the rule of law and the application of due process rights. Misconduct by criminal justice professionals challenges democratic authority and the equality and freedom of ordinary citizens. There is an urgent need for academics, advocates and policymakers to speak with one voice in articulating universal ethical standards and, most importantly, in prescribing systems and techniques that must be in place for criminal justice to be genuinely accountable and as free from misconduct as possible. The focus of the book is on the core components of the criminal justice system — police, courts and corrections — and the core groups within this system: sworn police officers; judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers; and custodial and community correctional officers. By using quality research and policy analysis of these core components Professor Prenzler formulates a basic checklist that can be used to assess the ethical quality and accountability of the criminal justice system in any jurisdiction.

In this publication the development is traced of two sections of the chapter on'Homicide'of the penal code of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), Murder and Homicide of an Adulterer. The former deals with premeditated homicide where there is no difference in status, social or family relations between murderer and victim, while in the latter we find the husband who kills his wife and her paramour when caught in the act. In that case, the husband was immune from prosecution, provided that he commited the act at the time and at the site.The first section developed in a clear and intelligent way, with in general some logical provisions being added from the beginning till the end of the dynasty. The second section, however, was enriched by 34 additional articles through legislation and judicial practice, which with a view to promoting moral purity in society, gradually circumvented the original restrictions to the husband's fury.Consequently, by accentuating the husband's important status and for the sake of maintaining the established hierarchy in society, that section changed into a bad and cruel part of the law, turning the husband's behaviour from an excusable exception into morally justified conduct, and likewise the woman's misbehaviour into a mortal sin. This has all been confirmed by the motivation of the legislation and sentences of the cases.

This book examines the controversial and repercussive contention that an objective of the law should be to promote personal morality - to make people ethically better. It surveys a number of domains, including criminal law, tort law, contract law, family law, and medical law (particularly the realm of moral enhancement technologies) asking for each: (a) Does the existing law seek to promote personal morality? (b) If so, what is the account of morality promoted, and what is the substantive content? (c) Does it work? and (d) Is this a legitimate objective?

This book explores the relevance of David Bowie's life and music for contemporary legal and cultural theory. Focusing on the artist and artworks of David Bowie, this book brings to life, in essay form, particular theoretical ideas, creative methodologies and ethical debates that have contemporary relevance within the fields of law, social theory, ethics and art. What unites the essays presented here is that they all point to a beyond law: to the fact that law is not enough, or to be more precise, too much, too much to bear. For those who, like Bowie, see art, creativity and love as what ought to be the central organising principles of life, law will not do. In the face of its certainties, its rigidities, and its conceits, these essays, through Bowie, call forth the monster who laughs at the law, celebrate inauthenticity as a deeper truth, explore the ethical limits of art, cut up the laws of writing and embrace that which is most antithetical to law, love. This original engagement with the limits of law will appeal to those working in legal theory, ethics and law and popular culture, as well as in art and cultural studies.

Obwohl die Gerechtigkeit seit jeher als höchster Wert gilt, herrscht in der Welt bis heute weithin nicht das Recht, sondern die Willkür. Dies gilt besonders für Diktaturen, die man wegen ihrer Mißachtung des Rechtsgedankens geradezu als »Unrechtssysteme« bezeichnen kann. Aber auch in Demokratien, die sich doch als »Rechtsstaaten« verstehen, gibt es erstaunliche Gerechtigkeitsdefizite, die sich hauptsächlich dadurch erklären, daß der Staat die Interessen von Gruppen vernachlässigt, die ohne ausreichende Lobby sind, Gruppen mit starker Lobby hingegen begünstigt. Nach einem einführenden Kapitel (»Zum Kampf um die Gerechtigkeit«) veranschaulicht der Verfasser sein Thema an so brisanten Fragen wie Bewertung des SED-Regimes, Einkommensgerechtigkeit, Preisgerechtigkeit, Rechtlose Umweltopfer, Schutzlose Versicherungsnehmer, Banken im Kreuzfeuer, Schutzlosigkeit vor Anlagebetrügern und Spendenbetrügern, Bekämpfung der Tabak-Epidemie, Bekämpfung alkoholbedingter Verkehrsunfälle, Ausstieg aus der Kernenergie, Greenpeace: David gegen Goliath. Das Buch will den Gerechtigkeitsdefiziten entgegenwirken: Es sucht die Öffentlichkeit für die Gefahren zu sensibilisieren, die der Gerechtigkeit (insbesondere) durch die Lobby drohen. Es weist auf generelle Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten hin (Strukturreform des Parlaments, Stärkung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts, Einführung plebiszitärer Mitwirkungsrechte der Bürger und Bestellung von Ombudsmännern für schutzbedürftige Gruppen, z.B. die künftigen Generationen). Und es enthält für die in den einzelnen Kapiteln behandelten Problemfelder zahlreiche Reformvorschläge. Im Anschluß an sein grundlegendes Werk »Rechtspolitik« (1992) macht der Verfasser erneut deutlich, daß der Kampf ums Recht heute mehr denn je eine Aufgabe von schicksalhafter Bedeutung ist, die uns alle angeht. Ohne ein verstärktes Engagement der Bürger, wie es sich insbesondere zum Schutz der Umwelt bereits beobachten läßt, wird es nicht möglich sein, nötige Reformen (rasch

Bringing together world-class scholars who have devoted themselves to the study of legal obligation, this book addresses key dimensions of the current debate: providing novel insights and perspectives, as well as critically discussing the leading theories of legal obligation. The notion of legal obligation is widely regarded as fundamental by both legal practitioners and legal theorists. For the language that explicitly refers to obligation is pervasive insofar as paradigmatic legal materials make reference to obligation either directly, by specifying what a subject is obligated to do, or indirectly, by attributing rights, privileges, powers, permissions, and other normative statuses to both single individuals and groups. There is, then, broad agreement that obligation constitutes a central element in legal studies. At the same time, however, there is considerable disagreement among contemporary legal theorists about how legal obligation can or should be elucidated. This book accounts for both the significance of obligation in law and the variety of views of legal obligation championed in legal philosophy today. With contributions from renowned theorists, this book will be invaluable for scholars and students of legal theory, legal philosophy, and jurisprudence.

Hermann Cohen (1842–1918) was a leading figure in the Neo-Kantian philosophical movement that dominated European thought before 1918. He is also the inaugural figure for what is meant by'modern Jewish philosophy'in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book explores Cohen's striking claim that ethics is rooted in law – a claim developed in both his philosophical ethics and his philosophy of Judaism, in particular in his writings on'love-of-neighbor,'up to and including his well-known Religion of Reason. Dana Hollander proposes that neither Cohen's systematic philosophy nor his'Jewish'philosophy should be seen as the dominant framework for his oeuvre as a whole, but that his understanding of key philosophical questions takes shape in the passages between both corpuses, a trait that could be seen as paradigmatic for modern Jewish philosophy. Ethics Out of Law taps into one of the prime topics of current interest in the field of Jewish philosophy: the nature of Jewish political existence and the changing configurations of'law'that this entails.

This volume addresses whether, how, and where laws (variously defined) teach values and shape moral character in late modern liberal societies. Each author recognizes the essential value of state law in fostering peace, security, health, education, charity, trade, democracy, constitutionalism, justice, and human rights, among many other moral goods. Each author also recognizes, however, the grave betrayals of law in supporting fascism, slavery, apartheid, genocide, persecution, violence, racism, and other forms of immorality and injustice. They thus call for state laws that set a basic civil morality of duty for society and for robust freedoms that protect private individuals and private groups to cultivate a higher morality of aspiration. With contributions by Rüdiger Bittner, Brian Bix, Frank Brennan, Allen Calhoun, Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Kenneth John Crispin, Jean Bethke Elshtain, E. Allan Farnsworth, James E. Fleming, M. Cathleen Kaveny, Ute Mager, Linda C. McClain, Reid Mortensen, Patrick Parkinson, Thomas Pfeiffer, Robert Vosloo, Michael Welker, and John Witte, Jr. [Der Einfluss des Rechts auf Charakterbildung, ethische Erziehung und Kommunikation von Werten in spätmodernen pluralistischen Gesellschaften] Dieser Band befasst sich mit der Frage, ob, wie und wo Gesetze – unterschiedlich formulierte – Werte lehren und den moralischen Charakter in spätmodernen liberalen Gesellschaften formen. Jeder Autor erkennt den wesentlichen Wert des staatlichen Rechts für die Förderung von Frieden, Sicherheit, Gesundheit, Bildung, Wohltätigkeit, Handel, Demokratie, Konstitutionalismus, Gerechtigkeit und Menschenrechten unter vielen anderen moralischen Gütern an. Jeder Autor erkennt jedoch auch den schwerwiegenden Verrat an Gesetzen an, der Faschismus, Sklaverei, Apartheid, Völkermord, Verfolgung, Gewalt, Rassismus und andere Formen von Unmoral und Ungerechtigkeit unterstützt. Sie fordern daher staatliche Gesetze, die eine grundlegende bürgerliche Pflichtmoral für die Gesellschaft festlegen, und robuste Freiheiten, die Privatpersonen und private Gruppen schützen, um eine höhere Moral des Strebens zu pflegen.

Qu'est-ce que le positivisme? Le positivisme juridique en est-il une déclinaison? Sinon, quels rapports celui-ci entretient-il avec celui-là? Du reste, faut-il parler « du » ou « des » positivismes juridiques? Quels sont les enjeux politiques de l'adoption de la position positiviste ou d'une position positiviste donnée par le juriste? En se focalisant sur le xxe siècle où la pensée juridique a pour ainsi dire éclaté, ce livre ambitionne de répondre à ces questions par la thèse selon laquelle il n'a pas existé un, mais plusieurs positivismes juridiques, certains concevant le droit comme un fait, d'autres comme une norme; certains adoptant une position explicative ou descriptive, d'autres une position normative. Leur examen sera l'occasion d'une évaluation des tentatives d'étude du droit comme fait ainsi que d'une interrogation sur le rapport du droit à l'État. Se poseront alors la question du pluralisme juridique et de sa relation avec l'idéal de l'État de droit et celle de l'intérêt d'adopter une nouvelle grille de lecture de l'histoire de la philosophie du droit.

La historia del progreso humano está repleta de cambios de paradigma. Los paradigmas, o saberes compartidos por el hombre de una época, cambian al ritmo de los descubrimientos de la ciencia. El cambio más célebre fue, del geocentrismo de Ptolomeo al heliocentrismo de Copérnico. Se creó incluso una expresión muy utilizada coloquialmente: “el giro copernicano”En el ámbito de la Ética, la filosofía y la política también se producen otros cambios de paradigma. Durante siglos, los europeos traficaron y vendieron a los negros como esclavos. El siglo XIX marcó un punto de inflexión, con la Proclamación de Lincoln en 1863 y la XIII Enmienda a la Constitución USA en 1865. Aquella abolición de la esclavitud no logró, sin embargo, la igualdad de derechos. La segregación se instaló en el Sur de los Estados Unidos desde 1896. Casi 70 años más tarde, llegó la igualdad de derechos de los negros de la mano de Martin Luther King, en 1964. Antes hubo que derrotar y criminalizar la ideología del nazismo en la 2ª Guerra mundial. Pero en 1948, reapareció el Apartheid en Sudáfrica hasta el año 1990. La derrota definitiva del Apartheid estaba reservada a Nelson Mandela.En los últimos años, hay otros cambios de paradigma en la Ética. Hoy día hay una batalla entre partidarios pro-choice y pro-life sobre el concebido y no nacido. La ciencia médica, con ecografías y ultrasonidos, está ofreciendo pruebas de actividad cardíaca en el feto con sólo seis semanas de gestación. En USA se han producido más de una decena de leyes restrictivas del aborto. Pero sólo la Corte Suprema puede hacer que unas convicciones sociológicas extendidas, se conviertan en derechos y obligaciones exigibles. ¿Asistiremos a un cambio de paradigma sobre el nasciturus?

Engaging with the underlying social context in which emotions are a motivationalforce, Law and the Passions provides a uniquely inclusive commentary on the significanceand influence of emotions in the history and continuing development oflegal judgment, policy formation, legal practice and legal dogma.Although the emotionality of the law and the use of emotional tropes in legaldiscourse has become an established focus in recent scholarship, the extent towhich emotion and the passions have informed decision-making, decision-avoidanceand legal reasoning – rather than as simply an adjunct – is still a matter forcritical analysis. As evidenced in a range of illustrative legal cases, emotions havebeen instrumental in the evolution of key legal principles and have produced manycontroversial judgments. Addressing the latent influence of fear, hate, love andcompassion, the book explores the mutability of law and its transformative power,especially when faced with fluctuating social mores. The textual nature of law andthe impact of literary forms on legal actors are also critically examined to furtherelucidate the idea of law-making as both rational and emotional, and significantlyas an essential activity of the empathic imagination. To this end, it is suggestedthat critical scholarship on law, the passions and emotions not only advances ourunderstanding of the inner workings of law, it constitutes a fundamental part ofour moral reasoning, and has the capacity to articulate the conditions for a moredynamic, adaptable, ethical and effective legal institution.This interdisciplinary book will be of interest to scholars and students in thefields of law and literature, legal theory, legal philosophy, law and the humanities,legal aesthetics, sociology of law, politics, law and policy, human rights, general jurisprudenceand social justice, as well as cultural studies.

Das Gewissen befindet sich aufgrund der Tatsache, dass es feststehende allgemeingültige Maßstäbe des Guten in einer pluralistischen und säkularisierten Welt nicht mehr gibt, in einer Krise, welche nach Hannah Arendt im Nationalsozialismus kulminerte. Auf der anderen Seite hat jedoch die in Art. 4 GG garantierte Gewissensfreiheit nur dann eine Berechtigung, wenn der Staat nicht von einer absoluten Wahrheit und Gerechtigkeit ausgeht, da ansonsten nicht einzusehen wäre, warum das Gewissen diese unterschiedlich reflektieren dürfen sollte. Hier zeigt sich ein scheinbar nicht aufzulösendes Spannungsverhältnis, wird das Gewissen doch in vielen Situationen des Alltags virulent. Das Buch soll einen neuen Umgang mit dem Gewissen und seiner Bedeutung für das Recht aufzeigen.

This text will examine U.S. Supreme Court cases which highlight, feature and illuminate some facets of natural law reasoning since the Court's decree in Roe v. Wade. For most of our constitutional and legal history, there has been an exhilarating debate about whether natural law commands or encourages certain legal resolutions – even from the time of the Founders. Most would concur that the legal philosophy of Jefferson and other Founders favored a natural law basis for this republic and its corresponding rights. And while the proposed text accepts that the concept and understanding of natural law reasoning has both supporters and detractors in contemporary settings, earlier Supreme Court rulings on controversial subject matter used natural law language with regularity. Since the 1970s, the idea of a perennial, immutable and unassailable natural law has lost favor. And given the recent surge in controversial case law and conflicting decisions on highly charged topics, a return to first principles grounded in nature and natural law might be beneficial. Indeed, the proposed research hopes to gauge its current relevance, usage and reliance in more modern judicial cases.