The Germ Of Justice

General jurisprudence is the theory of law in general, identifying features that law has wherever and whenever legal institutions exist. But it is no hermetic inquiry. Law depends on, and has consequences for, politics and morality. In The Germ of Justice, one of the subject's prominent exponents disentangles these relationships. Professor Leslie Green probes three clusters of problems: the nature of law as a social construction, the relations between law and morality, and the demands that law makes of its officers and its subjects. Along the way, Green asks what jurisprudence can learn from the social sciences, how it is related to the humanities, how it might make progress, and why it is of value. This wonderful and accessible text engages leading theories of law and key works of Hume, Kelsen, Hart, Dworkin, Finnis, and Raz. The Germ of Justice is a must-have work in contemporary jurisprudence and a powerful contribution to political theory and moral philosophy.

Critical human interests are affected on a daily basis by appeal to past decisions deemed to be 'legally valid'. They include statutes, deportation orders, judgments, mortgage contracts, patents and wills. Through the technique of validity, lawyerly reasoning settles morally pressing matters in a way that largely bypasses moral argument. Legal philosophy has paid considerable attention to validity criteria, but it has neglected to explore validity's point: whether, and if so how, the pervasive technique of validity can contribute to a legal system's ability to realise justice and human rights. This book shows that validity can help a political community to foster justice precisely because validity does not primarily turn on moral considerations. Validity serves to both allocate, and limit, a distinct kind of power, a power that is key to forging valuable forms of enterprise and commitment in pursuit of individual and collective self-direction. By entrusting the capacity to decide to those who, in justice, ought to bear it, validity can enable persons and institutions to rally the resources and opportunities that only large-scale behavioural convergence can afford, thereby weaving a fabric of just relationships within the systemic framework of law.

Filling a long-standing need for a Canadian textbook in the philosophy of law, this anthology includes articles, readings, and cases in legal philosophy to give students the conceptual tools necessary to consider the general problems of jurisprudence.

How do laws resemble rules of games, moral rules, personal rules, rules found in religious teachings, school rules, and so on? Are laws rules at all? Are they all made by human beings? And if so how should we go about interpreting them? How are they organized into systems, and what does it mean for these systems to have 'constitutions'? Should everyone want to live under a system of law? Is there a special kind of 'legal justice'? Does it consist simply in applying the law of the system? And how does it relate to the ideal of 'the rule of law'? These and other classic questions in the philosophy of law form the subject-matter of Law as a Leap of Faith. In this book John Gardner collects, revisits, and supplements fifteen years of celebrated writings on general questions about law and legal systems - writings in which he attempts, without loss of philosophical finesse or insight, to cut through some of the technicalities with which the subject has become encrusted in the late twentieth century. Taking his agenda broadly from H.L.A. Hart's The Concept of Law (1961), Gardner shows how the key ideas in that work live on, and how they have been and can still be improved in modest ways to meet important criticisms - in some cases by concession, in some cases by circumvention, and in some cases by restatement. In the process Gardner engages with key ideas of other modern giants of the subject including Kelsen, Holmes, Raz, and Dworkin. Most importantly he presents the main elements of his own unique and refreshingly direct way of thinking about law, brought together in one place for the first time.

A study of the nature of authority and the character of the state. It draws on political philosophy, jurisprudence and public choice theory, to explain and evaluate the state's claim to authority over its citizens.

Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law is a forum for some of the best new philosophical work on law, by both senior and junior scholars from around the world. The essays range widely over issues in general jurisprudence (the nature of law, adjudication, and legal reasoning), the philosophical foundations of specific areas of law (from criminal law to evidence to international law), the history of legal philosophy, and related philosophical topics that illuminate the problems of legal theory. OSPL will be essential reading for philosophers, academic lawyers, political scientists, and historians of law who wish to keep up with the latest developments in this flourishing field.

Sneezes, coughs, runny noses, spills, and messes are facts of everyday life with children. And that’s why it’s never too soon to teach little ones about germs and ways to stay clean and healthy. This book is a short course for kids on what germs are, what they do, and why it’s so important to cover them up, block them from spreading, and wash them down the drain. Simple words complement warm, inviting, full-color illustrations that show real-life situations kids can relate to. A special section for adults includes ideas for discussion and activities.

As a renowned humanist, psychologist, and educator, Dr. Gordon is an African American who has spent most of his life in racially integrated sections of society, but he has never completely lost the sense that he is representing those who have been relegated to "the back of the bus." Both scholarly and accessible, this book examines many of the most important issues of educational theory and practice and places them in the context of the social justice imperative. Each section of essays -- including two new essays prepared especially for this book -- is introduced with commentaries in which the author contextualizes and explains the continuing relevance of the issues for today's educator.