Reasons and Intentions in Law and Practical Agency

by George Pavlakos (Editor), Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco (Editor)

Overview

This collection of new essays explores in depth how and why we act when we follow practical standards, particularly in connection with the authority of legal texts and lawmakers. The essays focus on the interplay of intentions and practical reasons, engaging incisive arguments to demonstrate both the close connection between them, and the inadequacy of accounts that downplay this important link. Their wide-ranging discussion includes topics such as legal interpretation, the paradox of intention, the relation between moral and legal obligation, and legal realism. The volume will appeal to scholars and students of legal philosophy, moral philosophy, law, social science, cognitive psychology, and philosophy of action.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107642928
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/15/2018
Pages:	341
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.06(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

George Pavlakos is Research Professor of Globalization and Legal Theory at the University of Antwerp and Professor of Globalization and Legal Theory at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of Our Knowledge of the Law (2007) and has edited several collections of essays including New Essays on the Normativity of Law (2011).

Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco is Senior Lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Birmingham. Her publications include Law and Authority under the Guise of the Good (2014).

Table of Contents

Introduction George Pavlakos and Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco; Part I. The Normative Meaning of Actions: 1. Intentions, permissibility, and the reasons for which we act Ulrike Heuer; 2. Acting and satisficing Sergio Tenenbaum; 3. Interpretation without intentions Heidi M. Hurd; 4. Metasemantics and legal interpretation Ori Simchen; Part II. Normativity of Legal Authority: 5. Doing another's bidding Matthew Hanser; 6. Legal authority and the paradox of intention in action Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco; 7. The deliberative and epistemic dimension of legitimate authoritative directives Anthony Hatzistavrou; 8. Public transit A. J. Julius; 9. Ought we to do what we ought to be made to do? Cohen and Nagel on the personal and the political William A. Edmundson; 10. Juridical laws as moral laws in Kant's The Doctrine of Right Ben Laurence; 11. The relation between moral and legal obligation: an alternative Kantian reading George Pavlakos; Part III. The Social Dimension of Normativity: 12. Law's artefactual nature: how legal institutions generate normativity Kenneth M. Ehrenberg; 13. American Legal Realism and practical guidance Manuel Vargas and Joshua P. Davis; 14. The authority of conventions, norms, and law Bruno Verbeek; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

‘This sophisticated book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in law and practical reasoning.' Dennis Patterson, European University Institute

'The essays in the book are rich and topical. They cover a variety of different issues, but with many interesting connections between them. This is a book that repays close study. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in these areas.' Jonathan Crowe, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

From the Publisher