Practices and Principles: Approaches to Ethical and Legal Judgment - Rilegato

Tunick, Mark

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0691015600 ISBN 13: 9780691015606

Casa editrice: Princeton Univ Pr, 1998

Riassunto

A Japanese woman living in California attempts parent-child suicide, an ancient Japanese custom called "oyako-shinju," in order to rid herself of shame upon learning that her husband has a mistress. She survives, but her two children are drowned in the attempt. Since her attempt was made in accordance with the standards of Japanese culture, should she be tried by the standards and laws of the United States? Are there universally valid moral principles that dictate what is right? Or are moral judgments culturally relative, ultimately dictated by conventions and practices that vary among societies? InPractices and Principles, Mark Tunick takes up the debate between universalists and relativists, and, in political philosophy, between communitarians and liberals, each of which has roots in an earlier debate between Kant and Hegel.

Tunick focuses on three case studies: promises, contract law, and the Fourth Amendment issue of privacy. In his analysis, he rejects both uncritical deference to social practice and draconian adherence to principles when making legal and ethical judgments. He argues that we do not always need to choose between abstract principles and social practices. Sometimes we appeal to both; sometimes we need to appeal to shared social norms; and sometimes, where there is no ethical community, we can appeal only to principles. Ultimately, Tunick rejects simplified arguments that force us to choose between either practicesor principles, universalism or relativism, and liberalism or communitarianism.

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Recensione

"The central question in this lucid and thoughtful book is, what force do the existence of practices, customs, and traditions have when we make legal and ethical judgments? Tunick's answer is that as much as we need principles to criticize our practices, practices still matter for legal and ethical judgement."--Ethics

"Practical and beneficial as a reference for research. As a whole, anyone with strong affection for the area of philosophy will likely enjoy the style and substance offered in Practices and Principles."--New York Law Journal

"Tunick . . . does a fine job of arguing against those approaches that reify absolute principles and those that rely solely on the justifying power of agreed-upon social practice. . . . The truth, asserts Tunick, lies somewhere in between, in the unresolvable tension that arises when practice and principle collide and transform each other. . . . [Tunick's] writing style is clear and relatively jargon-free. . . . Recommended."--Choice

Contenuti

Ch. 1	Introduction	3
Ch. 2	Kant versus Hegel	19
	Kant's Principle Conception	21
	Hegel's Criticism of Kant's Principle Conception	30
	Hegel on the Importance of Social Practice	34
	Implications	43
	Kant or Hegel: Principles without Practice or Principles Immanent in Practice?	48
Ch. 3	Promises	50
	The Problem	50
	Scanlon's Example	54
	Principle Conceptions of Promising	58
	Scanlon's Principles M and F	83
	Conclusion: Practices and the Obligation to Keep Promises	90
Ch. 4	Contracts	96
	Problems in Contract Law	96
	Principles	104
	Practices and Principles in Contract Law	133
Ch. 5	Privacy	137
	The Problem	137
	Determining the Reasonableness of Expectations of Privacy: Practice or Principles?	144
	Incorporating Practice and Principle in Fourth Amendment Reasonable-Expectation-of-Privacy Analysis: The Mischance Principle Applied	172
Ch. 6	Practices, Principles, and Contemporary Political Theory	191
	The Role of Social Practice in Ethical and Legal Judging	193
	Contemporary Political Theorists on the Role of Social Practice	199
	Practices and Principles	204
	Practices, Principles, and the Liberal-Communication Debate	209
	Practices, Principles, and the Relativism-Universalism Debate	217
	Bibliography	223
	Index of Cases	235
	General Index	237

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Princeton Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 1998
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0691015600
• ISBN 13: 9780691015606
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 242
• Contatto del produttore: Princeton University Press; https://press.princeton.edu/books; ; 7th Floor, New South Building; PRINCETON; NJ; 8544; U.S.A.
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile