Where Law and Morality Meet
Oxford University Press (2008)
| Abstract | How are law and morality connected, how do they interact, and in what ways are they distinct? In Part I of this book, Matthew 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 all the essential characteristics of any legal system. Part II reaffirms the legal positivist argument that law and morality are separable, arguing against the position of natural-law theory, which portrays legal requirements as a species of moral requirements. Kramer contends that even though the existence of a legal system in any sizeable society is essential for the realization of fundamental moral values, law is not inherently moral either in its effects or in its motivational underpinnings. In the final part, Kramer contests the widespread view that people whose conduct is meticulously careful cannot be held morally responsible for harmful effects of their actions. Through this argument, he reveals that fault-independent liability is present even more prominently in morality than in the law. Through a variety of arguments, Where Law and Morality Meet highlights both some surprising affinities and some striking divergences between morality and law. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Law and ethics | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Buy the book | $44.52 direct from Amazon (26% off) Amazon page | |||||||||
| Call number | K247.6.K73 2008 | |||||||||
| ISBN(s) | 0199546134 9780199546138 | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,679 |
| External links | This entry has no external links. Add one. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesRoger Cotterrell (2000). Common Law Approaches to the Relationship Between Law and Morality. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 3 (1):9-26.
José Antonio Marina (2000). Genealogy of Morality and Law. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 3 (3):303-325.
Joseph Raz (2003). About Morality and the Nature of Law. American Journal of Jurisprudence 48:1-15.
Matthew H. Kramer (2008). Is Law's Conventionality Consistent with Law's Objectivity? Res Publica 14 (4):241-252.
Neil MacCormick (2007). Institutions of Law: An Essay in Legal Theory. Oxford University Press.
Leon Petrażycki (2010). Law and Morality. Translation Publishers.
Joseph Raz (1979). The Authority of Law: Essays on Law and Morality. Oxford University Press.
David Lyons (1971/1993). Moral Aspects of Legal Theory: Essays on Law, Justice, and Political Responsibility. Cambridge University Press.
Robert Alexy (2002). The Argument From Injustice: A Reply to Legal Positivism. Oxford University Press.
Matthew H. Kramer (1999). In Defense of Legal Positivism: Law Without Trimmings. Oxford University Press.
Analytics
Monthly downloads
Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
|
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads1 ( #274,830 of 549,087 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,317 of 549,087 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
