Law's Task: The Tragic Circle of Law, Justice and Human Suffering / Edition 1

by Louis E. Wolcher

Overview

What is the ultimate task of law? This deceptively simple question guides this volume towards a radically original philosophical interpretation of law and justice. Weaving together the philosophical, jurisprudential and ethical problems suggested by five general terms - thinking, human suffering, legal meaning, time and tragedy - the book places the idea of law's ultimate task in the context of what actually happens when people seek to do justice and enforce legal rights in a world that is inflected by the desperation and suffering of the many. It traces the rule of law all the way down to its most fundamental level: the existence of universal human suffering and how it is that law-doers inflict or tolerate that suffering.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780754671329
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/01/2008
Series:	Applied Legal Philosophy
Edition description:	1
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Louis E. Wolcher is Charles I. Stone Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, USA. Professor Wolcher's primary research interests are in the fields of philosophy of law, legal and political theory, philosophy of language, and human rights.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 A Summary of Themes; Chapter 2 The Guiding Question; Chapter 3 Suffering and Ethical Distress; Chapter 4 The Problem of Legal Meaning; Chapter 5 The Limits of Reason in Legal Interpretation; Chapter 6 The Times of Law and Religion; Chapter 7 The Tragedy of Law and Justice;

Editorial Reviews

'This is a ground-breaking work of erudition, empathy and thinking. Wolcher combines seamlessly analytical and continental philosophy to re-imagine the fundamentals of law and jurisprudence. Law's empire is not founded on reason, utility or need but on human suffering. In forgetting this, law increases suffering while jurisprudence legitimises it by concealing the tragic springs of human action. "Pathei mathos" (learn from suffering) said the Greeks. Law's Task reminds us of the centrality of this insight and shows that despite the attempt to obscure its importance it retains fully its relevance and force. This book proves Wolcher to be the most important, imaginative and critical American legal philosopher.' Costas Douzinas, Birkbeck College, UK

From the Publisher