Liability and Responsibility Essays in Law and Morals

This thought-provoking volume will help to shed light on the underexplored ground that lies between law and morals.

This collection of contemporary essays by a group of well-known philosophers and legal theorists covers various topics in the philosophy of law, focusing on issues concerning liability in contract, tort and criminal law. The book is divided into four sections. The first provides a conceptual overview of the issues at stake in a philosophical discussion of liability and responsibility. The second, third and fourth sections present, in turn, more detailed explorations of the roles of notions of liability and responsibility in contracts, torts and punishment. The collection not only presents some of the most challenging work in legal philosophy, but it also demonstrates the interdisciplinary character of the field of philosophy of law, with contributors taking into account recent developments in economics, political science and rational choice theory. This thought-provoking volume will help to shed light on the underexplored ground that lies between law and morals.

Preface; List of contributors; Introduction R. G. Frey and Christopher W. Morris; Part I. Responsibility: Some Conceptual Problems: 1. Can responsibility be diminished? Anthony Kenny; 2. Intention and side-effects John Finnis; 3. Attempting the impossible Alan R. White; Part II. Consent, Choice and Contracts: 4. Beyond foreseeability: consequential damages in the law of contract Richard A. Epstein; 5. Rights and remedies in a consent theory of contract Randy E. Barnett; 6. A bargaining theory approach to default provisions and disclosure rules in contract law Jules L. Coleman, Douglas D. Heckathorn and Steven M. Maser; Part III. Risk, Compensation and Torts: 7. Theories of compensation Robert E. Goodin; 8. Liberty, community and corrective justice Ernest J. Weinrib; 9. Risk, causation, and harm Glen O. Robinson; Part IV. Punishment: 10. Retributive hatred: an essay on criminal liability and the emotions Jeffrie G. Murphy; 11. A new theory of retribution Jean Hampton; 12. Punishment and self-defense George P. Fletcher.

This collection not only presents some of the most challenging work in legal philosophy, but it also demonstrates the interdisciplinary character of the field of philosophy of law, with contributors taking into account developments in economics, political science and rational choice theory.