Problems at the Roots of Law : Essays in Legal and Political Theory

## Abstract This collection of essays is united by a common concern with basic questions pertaining to law and morality and the relation between the two. The first essay considers whether judges must appeal to natural law or natural justice when the law seems incomplete or indeterminate. In cases in which the law is immoral, natural law theorists and legal positivists align in their rejection of a moral obligation to obey the law. The second essay defends the view that moral rights exist independently of institutional structures. The complex issue of criminal entrapment is the focus of the third paper, and the position defended is that although an entrapped person sometimes may not be held criminally liable for the crime she voluntarily commits as a result of police enticement, in many cases we may make adverse moral judgments about her conduct. The view espoused in the fourth essay is that completed crimes and failed attempts should be treated in the same way when determining the appropriate punishment. The fifth essay offers various arguments to support the claim that funding of the arts through taxation is justified. Among other things, the arts offer intrinsic, though often benefitless, value to society, which is worthwhile to maintain and preserve. In the sixth paper, the discussion focuses on the notion of pure evil, or sheer wickedness, contrasting it with that of mental illness (or sick! sick! sickness) and identifying some places in which this distinction blurs. The final essay in this collection looks at how, since Plato's time, moral language and psychiatric language have fused ideas of immorality and mental illness. Feinberg Is One Of The Leading Philosophers Of Law Of The Last Forty Years. This Volume Collects Recent Articles, Both Published And Unpublished, On What He Terms Basic Questions About The Law, Particularly In Regard To The Relationship To Morality. Accessibly And Elegantly Written, This Volume's Audience Will Reflect The Diverse Nature Of Feinberg's Own Interests: Scholars In Philosophy Of Law, Legal Theory, And Ethical And Moral Theory. 1. Natural Law: The Dilemmas Of Judges Who Must Interpret Immoral Laws -- 2. In Defense Of Moral Rights -- 3. Criminal Entrapment: Instigating The Unpredisposed -- 4. Criminal Attempts: Equal Punishments For Failed Attempts -- 5. Not With My Tax Money: The Problem Of Justifying Government Subsidies For The Arts -- 6. Evil -- 7. Fusion: The Blending Of Moral And Psychiatric Judgments Joel Feinberg. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 201-215) And Index. Collects articles, on what the author terms "basic questions" about the law, particularly in regard to the relationship to morality. This volume reflects the diverse nature of his own interests: scholars in philosophy of law, legal theory, and ethical and moral theory Perhaps the most distinctive tenet of natural law theory is that morality-or some sector of morality, notably, justice-is not simply a useful criterion for evaluating any given system of human law nor simply a desirable feature to import into law.