Offences and Defences: Selected Essays in the Philosophy of Criminal LawJohn Gardner's writings on the theory of criminal law have had a significant impact on the way that this subject is understood by legal scholars and philosophers. This book collects together a selection of his best-known and most provocative pieces. John Gardner tackles persistent and troublesome questions about the philosophical foundations of the criminal law. Which wrongs are suitable to be crimes and why? What are the conditions of criminal responsibility, and how do they relate to the conditions of moral responsibility? What does it take to be complicit in another's wrongdoing? Should crimes ever be excused, and if so, on what basis? How, if at all, should the criminal law adapt to conditions of social and cultural diversity? The issues raised in these essays have a significance extending beyond the law. What does it mean to be a responsible agent and why does it matter? Is my moral character only or mostly my own business? Is there a difference between being reasonable and being rational? These and many other moral problems lurk in the background of the criminal law, and the pieces in this book bring them into the foreground. Theoretical writings on the criminal law have often been dominated by a preoccupation with the justification of criminal punishment. This work is different. Although it discusses the legitimacy of criminal punishment it proceeds on the footing that the criminal law does many important things apart from punishing people. In particular, Gardner argues that the criminal law provides an important forum for people to explain themselves. Such a forum would be important, argues Gardner, even if criminal punishment were to be abolished. |
Contents
1 The Wrongness of Rape | 1 |
2 Rationality and the Rule of Law in Offences Against the Person | 33 |
3 Complicity and Causality | 57 |
4 In Defence of Defences | 77 |
5 Justifications and Reasons | 91 |
6 The Gist of Excuses | 121 |
7 Fletcher on Offences and Defences | 141 |
Other editions - View all
Offences and Defences: Selected Essays in the Philosophy of Criminal Law John Gardner Limited preview - 2007 |
Offences and Defences: Selected Essays in the Philosophy of Criminal Law John Gardner No preview available - 2007 |
Offences and Defences: Selected Essays in the Philosophy of Criminal Law John Gardner No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
accomplice actual bodily harm agent agent-neutralist agent-relativist answer argument Ashworth assault avoid basic responsibility belief blameworthiness capacity causal contribution claim closure view Commission’s committed complicity consent courage courts crime criminal law criminal punishment defendant’s diminished responsibility distinction duty example excusatory explain explanatory reasons facie fact function Gardner grievous bodily harm guiding reasons harm principle Horder human important insult justification or excuse justifications and excuses killing Law Review law’s liability means mentally ill merely mistake objection offender’s one’s action particular people’s Philosophy Positive General Prevention premiss proportionality principle provocation defence question rational explanation reasons in favour regard relevant role rule of law section 47 sections 18 self-control sense sentencing sexual penetration someone standards of character State’s Tadros Theft Act 1968 Theories of Justification things considered thought tion true undefeated reason use-value victim violation words wrongdoer wrongdoing Wrongness of Rape