Democratic Law

Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-0-19-008448-6
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 248 Seiten, Format (B × H): 150 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 386 g

Reihe: The Berkeley Tanner Lectures

In this book, based on her 2017 Berkeley Tanner Lectures, Seana Valentine Shiffrin offers an original, deontological account of democracy, law, and their interrelation. Her central thesis is that democracy and democratic law have intrinsically valuable, interconnected communicative functions. Democracy and democratic law together allow us to fulfill our fundamental duties to convey to each another messages of equal respect by fashioning the sorts of public joint
commitments to act that a sincere message of equal respect requires. Law and democracy are essential to each other: the aspirations of democracy cannot be realized except through a legal system, and, conversely, law can fulfill its primary function only in a democratic context.

After defending these theses, Shiffrin explores two doctrinal examples to illustrate how a communicative conception of democratic law would yield concrete implications. First, articulating the special democratic character of judicially articulated common law, she resists instrumental, outcome-oriented conceptions of law and defends the essential importance of the common law duty of good faith in contracts. Second, appealing to the need for law to articulate a coherent set of moral commitments,
she criticizes the U.S. Supreme Court's approach to constitutional balancing. In a set of commentaries, Niko Kolodny, Richard Brooks, and Anna Stilz offer illuminating and sometimes provocative discussion of both the philosophical and the legal aspects of Shiffrin's discussion. Shiffrin's responses
expand upon themes concerning legal compliance, commitments, communication, dissent, political participation, and the permissible range of state interests.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Shiffrin, Seana Valentine

Ginsborg, Hannah

Weitere Mitwirkende

Ginsborg, Hannah

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik

Über Autor(innen)

Seana Valentine Shiffrin is Professor of Philosophy and Pete Kameron Professor of Law and Social Justice at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of Speech Matters: On Morality, Lying, and the Law. Her research in law and philosophy explores theoretical and doctrinal questions about the social conditions necessary to realize equality and individual autonomy, addressing a wide range of topics including freedom of
speech, contracts, promises, anti-discrimination, economic equality, negligence, procreation, and intellectual property.