Philosophical questions rarely lack clear relevance to practices. Similarly,
any examination into the problems and prospects of current practices will
often, if not always, include some consideration of significant philosophical
issues. This is no different with the area of law and legal theory. What is
the relation between law and democracy and how might it be improved?
What values should inform the body of laws that govern us all? How
should we determine crimes from non-crimes? What justifies state punishment,
if anything? This book brings together some of the most important
essays in this area written by leading scholars and offering significant
contributions to how we understand law and legal theory. Most of the
essays originally appeared in the Journal of Moral Philosophy, an internationally
recognized leading philosophy journal. However, there is also
some new content with a never before published chapter and several previously
published chapters have been revised subsequently for this new
book. This introduction will provide a general survey of the essays included
and provide some background.