Justification Defenses and Just Convictions (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law) [Hardcover]

Robert F. Schopp (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521622115 | ISBN-13: 978-0521622110 | Publication Date: January 13, 1998

This major study advances an interpretation of criminal justification defenses that views them as an integral component of the structure of the criminal law. The book extends the traditional scope of the legal and philosophical discussion of justification defenses. It integrates philosophical analysis with a consideration of contemporary applications, it shows how these defenses are key components of criminal law, and it explores the relationship between legal and moral justification.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One doesn't need familiarity with jurisprudence generally to find Schopp's analysis and recommendations clear, accessible, important, and controversial. Highly recommended for anyone interested in moral philosophy or philosophy of law." Hans Oberdiek, Philosophy in Review

Book Description

This major study advances an interpretation of criminal justification defenses that views them as an integral component of the structure of the criminal law. The book extends the traditional scope of the legal and philosophical discussion of justification defenses.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521622115
• ISBN-13: 978-0521622110
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,270,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funk's Commentary in "Justifying Justifications"ÿ, January 10, 2000

By 

Giacomo Caliendo (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Justification Defenses and Just Convictions (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law) (Hardcover)

From T. Markus Funk, "Justifying Justifications" 19 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 631-47 (1999):

Schopp sets out his challenging objective in the first chapter: To 'advance[] an integrated theory of justification defenses [that] interprets the role and parameters of justification defences by appealing to the expressive function of hte criminal law as an official representation of a conventional public morality.' Schopp then provides the reader with a concise but useful summary of the debate to date, presenting the arguments pro and con on a number of areas advanced by some of the most influential commentators in the area such as Fletcher, Dressler, Greenawalt, and Robinson.

After canvassing the major issues, Schopp weighs in with his own view that, because the criminal law provides the public with minimum standards of acceptable conduct, justifications should not be held to require the morally best conduct. Instead, justified conduct is conduct that is not illegal by the appropriate standard. Schopp therefore follows the orthodox view on justifications in that he focuses on the act, whereas the focus in exucuses is on the actor. Thus, a defence is justificatory when it denies the objective wrongfulness of the conduct. In contrast, excused behaviour remains illegal and thus wrongful, but the actor may not be criminally liable because he is not morally to blame as an accountable agent by Schopp's 'systemic standards.' Although excuses exempt certain persons from punishment, the prohibitory norm remains intact. Justifications, in contrast, crease exceptions to the prohibitory norm.

* * *

Schopp has made a very valuable contribution to the study of justification defences. . . . Schopp's self-defence theory is at bottom comprehensive and coherent, and it must be taken seriously by all who intend to address this subject in the future. Justification defences have certainly received careful scrutiny over the past decades, but rarely has such a comprehensive and insightful analysis been on offer.