Reviews
"This book belongs on the shelves of every serious criminal law theorist and every research library in the world." --M. M. Feeley, University of California, Berkeley, Choice, Feb 1999, Vol 36, no. 6, "The book has four particular qualities which mark it out as a distinctive contribution to criminal law theory... its scope is remarkably broad. Furthermore, Moore brings an unusual combination of disciplinary perspectives to bear on the wide range of questions which he considers. Moore isalso unusual in giving the emotions a central place in his theory of criminal law. One has to admire the originality of Moore's position. He is a trenchant anti-consequentialist in ethics who nonetheless provides a careful analysis of the proper role of consequential arguments in shaping criminallaw." --Nicola Lacey, The Modern Law Review 15/08/2000, "...the book works mainly as a collection of essays, written over the past twenty years, on topics in criminal theory. As such, it has real strengths./ ... these are high-quality essays by a considerable figure, and should be read by anyone interested in criminal theory who has not done soalready." --A. P. Simester, The Cambridge Law Journal, 1998., "The high-point of Moore's exposition ... is a fine and psychologically penetrating defense of subjective moral institutions and emotions as 'heuristic indicators' of moral truths." --Books and Culture, July/Aug. 2000.", 'The high-point of Moore's exposition ... is a fine and psychologically penetrating defense of subjective moral institutions and emotions as 'heuristic indicators' of moral truths.'Books and Culture, July/Aug. 2000.'In an elegant and masterly introductory essay, laying out in order all the tasks of a theory of criminal law, he pleads that any 'deep theory' of the way law operates must take a moral point of view and be founded on moral institutions.'Books and Culture, July/Aug. 2000.'This book belongs on the shelves of every serious criminal law theorist and every research library in the world.'M. M. Feeley, University of California, Berkeley, Choice, Feb 1999, Vol 36, no. 6'The book has four particular qualities which mark it out as a distinctive contribution to criminal law theory... its scope is remarkably broad. Furthermore, Moore brings an unusual combination of disciplinary perspectives to bear on the wide range of questions which he considers. Moore is also unusual in giving the emotions a central place in his theory of criminal law. One has to admire the originality of Moore's position. He is a trenchantanti-consequentialist in ethics who nonetheless provides a careful analysis of the proper role of consequential arguments in shaping criminal law.'Nicola Lacey, The Modern Law Review'... these are high-quality essays by a considerable figure, and should be read by anyone interested in criminal theory who has not done so already.'A. P. Simester, The Cambridge Law Journal, 1998.'Much appreciation goes to Professor Moore for sharing his eloquent legal mind with us and our everlasting gratitude goes to the publisher, Oxford Univesrity Press, for bringing us this marvellous book in paperback....making this wonderful journey through the law accessible to students even.'Sally Ramage, The Criminal Lawyer, "In an elegant and masterly introductory essay, laying out in order all the tasks of a theory of criminal law, he pleads that any 'deep theory' of the way law operates must take a moral point of view and be founded on moral institutions." --Books and Culture, July/Aug. 2000."
Table of Content
1. A Theory of Criminal Law TheoriesPart One: THE THEORY OF PUNISHMENT2. Closet Retributivism3. The Moral Worth of RetributionPart Two: THE THEORY OF RESPONSIBILITY4. The Place of Moral Theory in the Criminal LawPart Three: THE THEORIES OF ACTION, INTENTION, CAUSATION, JUSTIFICATION, AND EXCUSEA) THE NATURE OF HUMAN ACTION5. The Nature of Basic and Complex ActionsB) THE NATURE OF MENTAL STATES6. Mind, Brain and the Unconscious7. Intentions and Mens ReaC) THE NATURE OF CAUSATION8. Thomson's Preliminaries about Causation and RightsD) THE NATURE OF JUSTIFICATION9. Torture and the Balance of EvilsE) THE NATURE OF EXCUSE10. Mental Illness and Responsibility11. Causation and the Excuses12. Choice, Character and ExcusePart Four: THE THEORY OF PERSONHOOD13. The Moral and Metaphysical Sources of the Criminal LawPart Five: PRINCIPLES OF THE SPECIAL PART14. The Limits of Legislation15. Sandelian Anti-Liberalism16. Privacy and the Constitutional Limits on Criminal Legislation17. Legality and Privacy Applied: Vagueness, Proportionality, Homosexuals in Schools, and Abortion, Introduction1: A Theory of Criminal Law TheoriesPart One: The Theory of Criminal Law's Function2: Closet Retributivism3: The Moral Worth of Retribution4: Justifying RetributivismPart Two: The Theory of the General Part: The Theory of ResponsibilityA. The Nature of Moral Responsibility5: The Independent Moral Significance of WrongdoingB. The Elements of Responsibility: Wrongdoing and Culpability1: The Nature of Wrongdoinga. the Nature of Human Action6: Moore on Act and Crimeb. The Nature of Causation7: Causation, Rights-Violations, and Wrongdoing8: Foreseeing Harm Opaquely2: The Nature of Culpabilitya. The Nature of Mental States9: Prima Facie Moral Culpability10: Mind, Brain, and the Unconscious11: Intentions and Mens ReaThe Nature of Excuse12: Causation and the Excusescuse13: Choice, Character, and ExcusePart Three: The Theory of the Special Part: Theories of Legislation and of Wrongful ActionA. The Theory of Proper Legislative Aim16: A Non-Exclusionary Theory of Legislative Aim: Taking Aim at Moral WrongdoingB. The Theory of Moral Wrongfulness17: Torture and the Balance of EvilsC. The Theory of the Limits of Criminal Legislation18: Liberty's Limits on Legislation