Philosophy Books - Page 12

Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections (4th Edition)

Dean John Champion, Dean J. Champion

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Editorial Review:

Suggesting that all components of the criminal and juvenile justice systems are interrelated to varying degrees, this thorough study describes the objectives of probation and parole for criminally convicted adults and juveniles and whether these objectives are achieved. Helping readers deepen their understanding of these philosophies through an examination of the history of parole and probation in the United States, it describes probation and parole programs, considers various classes of offenders, and highlights several problems associated with the selection and training of probation and parole officers—including their relationships with offender-clients. It remains the only major volume of its kind to combine the standard topics in probation and parole with full coverage of recent trends in community corrections. Exceptionally well organized, it emphasizes a legalistic approach, noting key legal cases where appropriate and including our most recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions. The volume provides a complete analysis of probation, community corrections, and the sentencing process; jails, prisons, and parole; the administration of probation and parole organizational operations; special populations of offenders and juvenile probation; and parole and program evaluation. For those involved in criminal justice, probation, parole or community corrections fields.

On The Rule of Law: History, Politics, Theory

Brian Z. Tamanaha

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Brief, clear, and erudite 5 out of 5 stars.
26 of 26 people found this review helpful.

We're hearing quite a bit these days about 'judicial activism', so it would be nice if we could be clear just what we mean by the 'rule of law'.

Unfortunately, when we get down to specifics, the term means different things to different people. Probably no one anywhere seriously contends as a matter of principle that e.g. judges should render strictly subjective opinions. But in practice, one person's law is another person's bias. (And contrary to the rhetoric of the loudest voices in such debates, it's usually because there are two competing principles genuinely at issue, not because one side doesn't care about principles at all.)

So it's a good idea to take a step back and ask, a bit more abstractly, exactly what we mean by the 'rule of law'. And that's where this slim but information-dense volume comes in.

Brian Tamanaha takes just about the only course it's possible to take in defining such a nebulous concept: the historical approach. By way of putting salt on the tail of the ideal of the rule of law, he traces the development of the concept from ancient Greece to the present day.

If you think that sounds like a big job for just 141 pages of text (plus notes and bibliography), you're right. In fact, one of the most impressive things about this deceptively small book is the amount of erudition Tamanaha manages to pack economically into its pages. There's quite a lot buried between the lines here, and sweating this baby down to such a manageable length (while keeping it readable) must have taken some real editing.

For it _is_ eminently readable, and it does provide a thorough, if brief, tour of the development of the rule-of-law ideal in Western civilization.

The tour begins, naturally enough, in ancient Greece and Rome, since the ideal at least has its roots in, most notably, the writings of Plato and Aristotle. However, as Tamanaha points out, these writings didn't directly embody the ideal and in any event were largely lost to the West until medieval times; their importance for the rule of law was largely in their influence on later thinkers.

It's in the Middle Ages that things really get rolling, what with all the power struggles between the papacy and the various thrones, the development of German customary law, and the Magna Carta. Even here, as Tamanaha shows, the ideal hasn't come to full fruition; what happens at this stage is that we're bequeathed a difficult question about how the government -- the state, the monarch, the legislature, the sovereign -- can be bound by the law when it is itself apparently the source of that law.

Tamanaha traces the ramifications of this question, and its developing answers, through the rise of the middle class, the Enlightenment, the growth of capitalism, and the modern era -- significantly and properly locating the rule-of-law ideal in the rise of political liberalism (in its broadest sense). Along the way we get short and incisive summaries of e.g. the works of Locke, Montesquieu, and Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, and a fine (and scrupulously fair) overview of the recent history and current state of the debate.

In the end we wind up with a broad tripartite account of the meaning of the rule of law. The three essential themes, Tamanaha contends, are the limitation of government itself by law, the 'formal' requirement that law be both impersonal and predictable, and the contrast between the 'rule of law' and the 'rule of man'. Having distinguished these themes, Tamanaha spends a chapter considering their application to international law, and then closes with a short rumination on whether the rule of law is really a 'universal human good'.

Ultimately Tamanaha finds grounds for optimism in the fact that pretty much everyone, no matter what their other disagreements, gives at least lip service to the rule-of-law ideal. This fact, though disconcertingly negative as to the prospects for agreement about precisely what the rule of law means in detail, is also evidence that societal attitudes broadly favoring the rule of law are deeply embedded and not likely to be dislodged by those narrower disputes.

It would be hard to find a more timely subject than Tamanaha's, and it would be hard to find a fairer or more readable discussion than his. If you're interested in current debates about the independence of the judiciary and the role of judges, don't miss this opportunity to stand back from those debates and look at the big picture. Public discourse is better served by a little history than by a lot of rhetoric.

Editorial Review:

Although it is currently the most important political ideal, there is much confusion about what the 'rule of law' means and how it works. Brian Tamanaha outlines the concerns of Western conservatives about the decline of the rule of law and suggests reasons why the radical Left have promoted this decline. Two basic theoretical streams of the rule of law are then presented, with an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of each. The book's examination of the rule of law on a global level concludes by deciding whether the rule of law is a universal human good.

The Structure of Liberty: Justice and the Rule of Law

Randy E. Barnett

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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"Already the book is on its way to becoming a contemporary classic, the successor in interest to Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State and Utopia . . ."--Michigan Law Review

"This is a serious, engaging, and important work of jurisprudence . . . Comprehensive in its treatment, fair-minded in the way it deals with evidence and unfailingly rigorous in its argument."--Choice

What is liberty, as opposed to license, and why is it so important? Drawing upon insights from philosophy, economics, political theory, and law, Randy Barnett examines the serious social problems that are addressed by liberty--and the background or "natural" rights and "rule of law" procedures that distinguish liberty from license. He then skillfully outlines the constitutional framework that is needed to protect this structure of liberty. Although this controversial work is intended to challenge specialists, its clear and accessible prose ensure that it will be of immense value to those working in a range of disciplines.

Norms and the Law

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Norms and the Law 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Prominent scholars discussed various issues on norms and the law. Especially Prof. Friedman's viewpoint was quite interesting in the viewpoint of social study of law.

Editorial Review:

This book contains perspectives of world-renowned scholars from the fields of law, economics, and political science about the relationship between law and norms. The authors take different approaches by using a wide variety of perspectives from law, legal history, neoclassical economics, new institutional economics, game theory, political science, cognitive science, and philosophy. The essays examine the relationship between norms and the law in four different contexts. Part One consists of essays that use the perspectives of cognitive science and behavioral economics to analyze norms that influence the law. In Part Two, the authors use three different types of common property to examine cooperative norms. Part Three contains essays that deal with the constraints imposed by norms on the judiciary. Finally, Part Four examines the influence formal law has on norms.

The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory (Belknap)

Richard A. Posner

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ambitious legal thinkers have become mesmerized by moral philosophy, believing that great figures in the philosophical tradition hold the keys to understanding and improving law and justice and even to resolving the most contentious issues of constitutional law. They are wrong, contends Richard Posner in this book. Posner characterizes the current preoccupation with moral and constitutional theory as the latest form of legal mystification--an evasion of the real need of American law, which is for a greater understanding of the social, economic, and political facts out of which great legal controversies arise. In pursuit of that understanding, Posner advocates a rebuilding of the law on the pragmatic basis of open-minded and systematic empirical inquiry and the rejection of cant and nostalgia--the true professionalism foreseen by Holmes a century ago.

A bracing book that pulls no punches and leaves no pieties unpunctured or sacred cows unkicked, The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory offers a sweeping tour of the current scene in legal studies--and a hopeful prospect for its future.

Philosophy of Law: Classic and Contemporary Readings with Commentary

Fredrick Schauer, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong

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Editorial Review:

Ideal for undergraduate courses in philosophy of law, this comprehensive anthology examines such topics as the concept of law, the dispute between natural law theorists and legal positivists, the relations between law and morality, criminal responsibility and legal punishment, the rights of the individual against the state, justice and equality, and legal evidence as compared with scientific evidence. The readings have been selected from both philosophy and law journals and include classic texts, contemporary theoretical developments, and well-known recent court cases. The text features extensive introductions that make even the most profound writings accessible to undergraduates.

Justice Blind? Ideals and Realities of American Criminal Justice (3rd Edition)

Matt Robinson

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

a great analysis 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book was assigned to me by my professor. I did not believe the argument of the book at first when we went through it in class. But as we went through the semester, the argument that was made was built from chapter to chapter. I noticed that I was actually reading the book and that I could understand it well. It is a textbook but it is not like most textbooks. I learned a lot in the class and think that most of the argument in Justice Blind is correct. What I liked most about the book is that it is easy to read even though it has so many details about crime and criminal justice.

Editorial Review:

Updated in a new 3rd edition, this book is rganized around a "planned change" approach and provides a critical assessment of how well the American criminal justice system achieves its goals. Unlike most other criminal justice books--which cover the traditional topics from the perspective of how "things are supposed to be," this book compares these ideals with the realities of criminal justice today and provides a critical interpretation of the role of race, ethnicity, and gender in criminal justice.

Offense to Others (Moral Limits of Criminal Law, Vol 2)

Joel Feinberg

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Editorial Review:

The second volume in Joel Feinberg's series The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law, Offense to Others focuses on the "offense principle," which maintains that preventing shock, disgust, or revulsion is always a morally relevant reason for legal prohibitions. Feinberg clarifies the concept of an "offended mental state" and further contrasts the concept of offense with harm. He also considers the law of nuisance as a model for statutes creating "morals offenses," showing its inadequacy as a model for understanding "profound offenses," and discusses such issues as obscene words and social policy, pornography and the Constitution, and the differences between minor and profound offenses.

Economics and the Law

Nicholas Mercuro, Steven G. Medema

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This text presents a concise overview of the current perspectives and varied traditions that constitute the evolving field of law and economics. The authors make it clear that the field is not a homogenous movement by illuminating the several competing and yet complementary traditions within it, including the Chicago School of Law and Economics, Public Choice Theory, Institutional and Neo-Institutional Law and Economics, the New Haven School and Modern Civic Republicanism, as well as the Critical Legal Studies' challenge to Law and Economics. By providing readers with a noncritical description of the broad contours of each school of thought, the authors convey a strong sense of the important elements of these interrelated yet varied traditions. The authors define "law and economics" broadly to include the application of economic theory (primarily microeconomics and the basic concepts of welfare economics) to the formation, structure, processes and economic impact of law and legal institutions. Since the law and the economy interact across a variety of fronts, the fundamental insights of their burgeoning field have important implications, not only for economics, but also for those in such contiguous disciplines as political science, public administration and sociology.

Rawls: A Theory of Justice and Its Critics

Chandran Kukathas, Philip Pettit

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Highly recommended 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Kukathas and Petit are extremly succesful in this book. Their analysis about Rawls' theory of justice is essential for those who want to understand the theory. The best moment of the book is the final chapter,in which the reader is able to compare Rawls'positions through the years.A must for Law and Philosophy students.

Cliff Notes 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This short book outlines the argument of "A Theory of Justice," John Rawls' landmark book of political theory; it also considers the critical commentary that has swirled around Rawls' book since its publication in the 1970s. Strangely, more space is given to "communitarian" critics such as Michael Sandel than to libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick, who is usually treated as Rawls' intellectual nemesis. The authors write clearly and their discussion is fine as far as it goes; however, it doesn't go very far. The book is too short and sketchy to be of much value to anyone except absolute beginners in philosophy.

fair over-view, but not the best avaliable 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is not bad if you want a quick over-view of Rawls. It's very readable and not terribly unreliable. But, it is also fairly superficial (it's hard to see how it could not be, given how short it is) and does not go in to significant depth as to any aspect of Rawls. The transition from A Theory of Justice to Political Liberalism is, in particular, given too little space. If all you want is a quick over-view of Rawls you can do worse, but if you want either a serious introduction or commentary you should look elsewhere. Jon Mandle's _What's Left of Liberalism_, Samuel Freeman's _Rawls_ (in the Routledge Philosophers series) or the _Cambridge Companion to Rawls_ are better choices.