Justification Department Of Justice

This book explores the morality of compromising. The author argues that peace and public justification are values that provide moral reasons to make compromises in politics, including compromises that establish unjust laws or institutions. He explains how it is possible to have moral reasons to agree to moral compromises and he debates our moral duties and obligations in making such compromises. The book also contains discussions of the sources of the value of public justification, the relation between peace and justice, the nature of modus vivendi arrangements and the connections between compromise, liberal institutions and legitimacy. In exploring the morality of compromising, the book thus provides some outlines for a map of political morality beyond justice.

Ted Honderich's "Punishment" is the best-known book on the justifications put forward for state punishment. This enlarged and developed edition brings his writing to a new audience. With new chapters on determinism and responsibility, plus a new conclusion, the book also remains true to its original realism about almost all talk of retribution and proportionality. Honderich investigates all the commonsensical notions of why and when punishment is morally necessary, engaging with the language of public debate by politicians and other public figures. Honderich then puts forward his own argument that punishment is legitimate when it is in accord with the principle of humanity. Written in a clear, sharp style and seasoned with a dry wit, this is the most important work on the reasoning behind our penal systems. It is a pleasure to read for philosophers and non-philosophers alike. Ted Honderich is Grote Professor Emeritus at University College London and author of numerous books on philosophy, including "After the Terror" (Edinburgh University Press, 2002), "How Free Are You?" (Oxford University Press, 2001), " Terrorism for Humanity" (Pluto Press, 2003) and "Conservatism" (Pluto Press, 2005). He is also the editor of the Oxford Companion to Philosophy.