Equality, Responsibility, and the Law

Description

This book examines responsibility and luck as these issues arise in tort law, criminal law, and distributive justice. The central question is: whose bad luck is a particular piece of misfortune? Arthur Ripstein argues that there is a general set of principles to be found that clarifies responsibility in those cases where luck is most obviously an issue: accidents, mistakes, emergencies, and failed attempts at crime. In revealing how the problems that arise in tort and criminal law as well as distributive justice invite structurally parallel solutions, the author also shows the deep connection between individual responsibility and social equality. This is a challenging and provocative book that will be of special interest to moral and political philosophers, legal theorists, and political scientists.

'Sketching the raw materials of Ripstein's argument cannot do justice to the detail and thoroughness of his treatment of tort and criminal law doctrine. He seeks to demonstrate the various ways in which doctrine incorporates and responds to the related notions of fair terms of interaction and the unreasonable imposition of risk. This close engagement with doctrine sets the book apart from much philosophical work in this area and illustrates the value of work that is both legally and philosophically agreed. Only the most intellectually incurious could read it without profit.' The Modern Law Review 'There are not many writers who combine philosophical acuity and imagination with a firm and sensitive grasp of the law and legal doctrines: Ripstein is one of the few.'