Moral Puzzles and Legal Perplexities
Essays on the Influence of Larry Alexander

Engages with the life and work of Larry Alexander to explore puzzles and paradoxes in legal and moral theory.

Heidi M. Hurd (Edited by)

9781316510452, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 November 2018

488 pages, 9 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.5 x 2.8 cm, 0.82 kg

'Larry Alexander is a legal theorist of great range and depth, who over the last half-century has made path-breaking and challenging contributions within criminal law, free speech theory, constitutional interpretation, jurisprudence, and moral philosophy. This volume of critical and celebratory essays is at once a tribute to this great scholar, and an atlas for the vast territory of Larry's work.' Matthew D. Adler, Richard A. Horvitz Professor of Law, Duke University, North Carolina

Drawing inspiration from the profoundly influential work of legal theorist Larry Alexander, this volume tackles central questions in criminal law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, and moral philosophy. What are the legitimate conditions of blame and punishment? What values are at the heart of constitutional protections against discrimination or infringements of free speech? Must judges interpret statutes and constitutional provisions in ways that comport with the intentions of those who wrote them? Can the law obligate us to violate the demands of morality, and when can the law allow the rights of the few to be violated for the good of the many? This collection of essays by world-renowned legal theorists is for anyone interested in foundational questions about the law's authority, the conditions of its fair application to citizens, and the moral justifications of the rights, duties, and permissions that it protects.

1. Introduction: Larry Alexander Heidi M. Hurd
Part I. Puzzles in Criminal Law: 2. Kinds of punishment Douglas Husak
3. Partial responsibility and excuse David O. Brink
4. 'Thank God I Failed' R. A. Duff
5. Does duress justify or excuse? The significance of Larry Alexander's ambivalence Peter Westen
6. Alternative lesser evils Gideon Yaffe
Part II. Problems in Constitutional Law: 7. Justifying academic freedom: Mill and Marcuse revisited Brian Leiter
8. Vindicating judicial supremacy Laurence Claus
9. Alexander's 'simple-minded originalism' Connie S. Rosati
10. Subjective versus objective intentionalism in legal interpretation Jeffrey Goldsworthy
11. Simple-minded originalism? Simply wrong! Lawrence B. Solum
12. Intentions in tension Frederick Schauer
13. Alexander's constitutionalism: a qualified defense Alon Harel
Part III. Perplexities in Jurisprudence: 14. For legal principles Mitchell N. Berman
15. The court, or the constitution? William Baude
16. Alexander as anarchist Steven D. Smith
17. Exclusionary rules Emily Sherwin
18. Larry Alexander and 'The Gap' Leo Katz and Alvaro Sandroni
Part IV. Paradoxes in Moral Philosophy: 19. Respect and discrimination Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen
20. The means principle and optimific wrongs Kimberly Kessler Ferzan
21. Deontology's travails Richard Arneson
22. The rationality of threshold deontology Michael S. Moore
23. Real-world criminal law and the norm against punishing the innocent: two cheers for threshold deontology Kevin Cole
24. Appreciation and responses Larry Alexander.

Subject Areas: Criminal law & procedure [LNF], Constitutional & administrative law [LND], Public international law [LBB], Comparative law [LAM], Jurisprudence & philosophy of law [LAB], Jurisprudence & general issues [LA], International relations [JPS], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]