The Philosophy of Criminal Law Selected Essays

Author: Douglas Husak
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199585038
Published In: March 2010
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Collects in one volume the most influential essays by a major figure in contemporary criminal law theory
Presents Husak's original and provocative views on the central topics in the philosophy of criminal law, from the justification of punishment to the nature of criminal liability
Includes a new introduction from the author drawing together his views on criminal law theory, and two previously unpublished essays

This volume collects 17 of Douglas Husak's influential essays in criminal law theory. The essays span Husak's original and provocative contributions to the major topics in the field, including the grounds of criminal liability, the significance of culpability, the role of defences, and the justification of punishment. The volume includes an extended introduction by the author, drawing together the themes of his work and exploring the goals of criminal theory.
Together, the essays present a desert-based analysis of issues in criminal theory that rejects the consequentialist approach more familiar among legal scholars. The foremost concern of these essays is to ensure that the principles and doctrines of the criminal law preserve justice and do not sacrifice individuals for the common welfare. Engagingly written, the essays are accessible to non-specialists and represent an excellent introduction to current issues and debates in the theory of criminal law.

Readership: Academics and advanced students in criminal law, jurisprudence and moral and political philosophy.

Introduction: Reflections On Criminal Theory
I Criminal Liability
1: Does Criminal Liability Require an Act?
2: Motive and Criminal Liability
3: The Costs to Criminal Theory of Supposing that Intentions are Irrelevant to Permissibility
4: Transferred Intent
5: The Nature and Justifiability of Nonconsummate Offenses
6: Strict Liability, Justice, and Proportionality
II Degrees of Culpability
7: The Sequential Principle of Relative Culpability
8: Wilful Ignorance, Knowledge, and the 'Equal Culpability' Thesis: A Study of the Deeper Significance of the Principle of Legality
9: Rapes Without Rapists: Consent and Reasonable Mistake
10: Mistake of Law and Culpability
III Defences
11: On the Supposed Priority of Justification to Excuse
12: Partial Defenses
13: The 'But Everybody Does That!' Defense
14: The De Minimis 'Defense' to Criminal Liability
IV Punishment and Its Justification
15: Why Punish the Deserving?
16: Malum Prohibitum and Retributivism
17: 'Already Punished Enough'

Douglas Husak, Professor of Philosophy and Law at Rutgers University

"I recommend a wide readership of this invaluable book among those interested in the foundational issues of criminal law." - Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman, New Criminal Law Review