NCJ Number
134707
Editor(s)
J B Brady,
N Garver
Date Published
1991
Length
292 pages
Annotation
The essays in this book, written by philosophers from Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, and the United States, examine the questions of how Western law, which provides one of the most sophisticated alternatives to violence, simultaneously provides one of the most elaborate justifications for violence.
Abstract
The main theme of the essays is the analysis of the relationship between violence and justice. The opening chapter maintains that collective violence is significantly different from individual violence, and that this ideological difference must be understood in order to deal reasonably with the collective violence. Other chapters in the first section discuss the relationships of violence to morality, to human nature, and to law. The second section explores patterns of legitimation or justification as they apply to the use of violence. Several authors deny the legitimacy of common forms of rationalization. The final section examines specific questions of punishment, terrorism, and female self-defense.