Courting Death the Law of Mortality: The Legal Constitution of Mortality (Law and Social Theory)

Death is the one ineradicable fact of being human and how we think about it is central to our understanding of, and engagement with, the world. Our human and cultural construction of death and dying shapes the structure and purpose of our institutions and has underpinned the work of scholars and philosophers down the ages. In its organization and values, its form and content, its construction of the past and of the future, the relationship between law and mortality remains one of the most perplexing and undertheorised aspects of the legal system, whether dealing with AIDS, euthanasia, sadomasochism, "mercy killings", murder, the judicial review of the right to die or the criminal death sentence. This collection brings together scholars from Australia, Britain and the US to reconsider the relationship between death and the law, in ways that should be of interest to poststructural philosophers and legal theorists and to cultural theorists and practitioners in a wider field. Contents......Page 4 Acknowledgements......Page 6 1-2......Page 8 15......Page 22 NOTES......Page 23 Part One. In Extremis......Page 24 19-21......Page 26 21......Page 28 jurisprudence 25-30......Page 32 30......Page 37 NOTES......Page 38 34-5......Page 41 37-40......Page 44 Hay, Douglas 39......Page 46 40......Page 47 44......Page 51 45-7......Page 52 47-9......Page 54 49-50......Page 56 50......Page 57 NOTES......Page 58 Smith, Adam 53......Page 60 56......Page 63 In re Kemmler 59......Page 66 61-8......Page 68 Hyde, Alan 68......Page 75 70......Page 77 77-81......Page 84 Stallworthy, Jon 81-3......Page 88 88......Page 95 89......Page 96 Part Two. Post Mortem......Page 100 McLoughlin v O'Brien 95-6......Page 102 Murder Act 1752 [UK] 96......Page 103 Gittings, Clare 98......Page 105 R v Stewart 100......Page 107 Griffith, Chief Justice 102......Page 109 Wittgenstein, Ludwig 104......Page 111 corpse 106......Page 113 111-23......Page 118 112......Page 119 Turnbull, Paul 113......Page 120 115......Page 122 118......Page 125 Onus v Alcoa of Australia 119......Page 126 120......Page 127 122-3......Page 129 NOTES......Page 130 128......Page 135 Walter, Hubert 130......Page 137 135-40......Page 142 Stotz, Gertrude 137......Page 144 140......Page 147 141......Page 148 Geertz, Clifford 145......Page 152 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 148-9......Page 155 NOTES......Page 166 Part Three. Memento Mori......Page 168 163......Page 170 164-79......Page 171 as desire 168-72......Page 175 172-3......Page 179 179......Page 186 181-4......Page 188 Phedon 183......Page 190 Mustil, Lord 185......Page 192 188-90......Page 195 NOTES......Page 198 194-5......Page 201 196-7......Page 203 WRITING AND THE CONSTITUTING VOID: THE EPIPHANY......Page 205 Portrait of the Artist 202-9......Page 209 207-12......Page 214 The Dead 209-12......Page 216 212......Page 219 216-7......Page 223 230......Page 237 Notes on Contributors......Page 240 Index......Page 242 11-3......Page 18 142-5......Page 149 46-7......Page 53 79-85......Page 86 220......Page 227 223-8......Page 230 Stevens, Justice 184......Page 191 Scalia, Justice 69......Page 76 2-15......Page 9 R v Lynn 99......Page 106 114-5......Page 121 Ratten v R 35......Page 42 14......Page 21 6-7......Page 13 41......Page 48 Truth and Reconciliation Commission 150-8......Page 157 173......Page 180 103-6......Page 110 techniques 58-68......Page 65 62......Page 69 Patel, Judge 64-5......Page 71 65......Page 72 177-9......Page 184 178......Page 185 Coroner's Act 1887 [UK] 131-2......Page 138 Sawyer v Whitley 28......Page 35 Hale, Matthew 97......Page 104 12......Page 19 Boccaccio 219-20......Page 226 8......Page 15 152-3......Page 159 Reinhardt, Judge 63-5......Page 70 67......Page 74 117......Page 124 Capellanus, Andreas 218......Page 225 116......Page 123 43-50......Page 50 80-1......Page 87 86-7......Page 93 South African Interim Constitution 1993 151......Page 158 153-9......Page 160 175-7......Page 182 3-4......Page 10 techniques 54-6......Page 61 5-6......Page 12 9......Page 16 36......Page 43 167-8......Page 174 176......Page 183 85-6......Page 92 84-8......Page 91 78-81......Page 85 24......Page 31 38......Page 45 as desire 187-8......Page 194 Kafka, Franz 4......Page 11 Huchet, Jean-Charles 227......Page 234 Reed, Justice 60-1......Page 67 201-2......Page 208 23......Page 30 190......Page 197 83-6......Page 90 High Court of Love 224-5......Page 231 155......Page 162 Renan, E 157......Page 164 154......Page 161 Lyotard, Jean-François 156......Page 163 Johnson, Richard 57......Page 64 Portrait of the Artist 195-6......Page 202 Portrait of the Artist 199......Page 206 169-70......Page 176 204-12......Page 211 208......Page 215 158-9......Page 165 Vasquez v Harris 29......Page 36 13......Page 20 149-50......Page 156 217......Page 224 182......Page 189 228-9......Page 235 Williams v Williams 101......Page 108 197-207......Page 204 26-8......Page 33 138......Page 145 Scarry, Elaine 66-7......Page 73 Simmonds, Nigel 87......Page 94 Song of Ignorance 221-3......Page 228 Strauss, Ricard 42......Page 49 Tasmanian Dams Case 121......Page 128 171-2......Page 178 Wakefield, Gibbon 22......Page 29 Death is the one ineradicable fact of being human. How we think about it is central to our understanding of and engagement with the world.

Our human and cultural construction of death and dying shapes the structure and purpose of our institutions and has underpinned the work of scholars and philosophers down the ages. In its organization and values, its form and content, its construction of the past and of the future, the relationship between law and mortality remains one of the most perplexing and under-theorized aspects of the legal system, whether dealing with AIDS, euthanasia, sadomasochism, "mercy killings", murder, the judicial review of the right to die, or the criminal death sentence.

This timely and important collection brings together scholars from Australia, Britain and the United States to reconsider the relationship between death and the law, in ways that will be of particular interest to post-structural philosophers and legal theorists and to cultural theorists and practitioners in a much wider field, for whom there is nothing more certain than the existence of "death and taxes". Contributors, and their university or college affiliation, are as follows --- Prue Vines, UNSW; Roger Magnusson, Sydney; Harry Ballis, Monash; Shaun McVeigh, Griffith; John Willis, Queensland; Judith Grbich, La Trobe; Simon Bronitt, ANU; Desmond Manderson, Macquarie; Piyel Haldar, Birkbeck; and Peter Rush, Deaking. This collection deals with complex issues relating to death such as ‘mercy killings', the ‘right to die'and murder. the relationship will always be controversial. This timely and provocative collection brings together scholars from Australia, Britain and the US. Death is the one ineradicable fact of being human and how we think about it is central to our understanding of, and engagement with, the world. This volume offers an international collection of opinions on death and the law