Reasons and Intentions in Law and Practical Agency

344 Pages·2015·1.54 MB·English

by  George Pavlakos

REASONS AND INTENTIONS IN LAW
AND PRACTICAL AGENCY
This collection of new essays explores in depth how and why we act
when we follow practical standards, particularly in connection with the
authorityoflegaltextsandlawmakers.Theessaysfocusontheinterplay
of intentions and practical reasons, engaging incisive arguments to
demonstrateboththecloseconnectionbetweenthem,andtheinadequacy
of accounts that downplay this important link. Their wide-ranging dis-
cussionincludestopicssuchaslegalinterpretation,theparadoxofinten-
tion, the relation between moral and legal obligation, and legal realism.
The volume will appeal to scholars and students of legal philosophy,
moralphilosophy,law,socialscience,cognitivepsychology,andphiloso-
phyofaction.
george pavlakos is Research Professor of Globalization and Legal
Theory at the University of Antwerp and Professor of Globalization
andLegalTheoryattheUniversityofGlasgow.HeistheauthorofOur
KnowledgeoftheLaw(2007)andhaseditedseveralcollectionsofessays
includingNewEssaysontheNormativityofLaw(2011).
veronica rodriguez-blanco is Senior Lecturer in the School of
LawattheUniversityofBirmingham,UK.HerpublicationsincludeLaw
andAuthorityUndertheGuiseoftheGood(2014).

REASONS AND INTENTIONS
IN LAW AND PRACTICAL
AGENCY
Edited by
GEORGE PAVLAKOS
UniversityofAntwerpandUniversityofGlasgow
VERONICA RODRIGUEZ-BLANCO
UniversityofBirmingham
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
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©CambridgeUniversityPress2015
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Firstpublished2015
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LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Reasonsandintentionsinlawandpracticalagency/editedbyGeorgePavlakos,
VeronicaRodriguez-Blanco.
pages cm
ISBN978-1-107-07072-1(Hardback)
1. Law–Philosophy. 2. Intention. 3. Normativity(Ethics) I. Pavlakos,George,editor.
II. Rodriguez-Blanco,Veronica,editor.
K272.R432015
3400.1–dc23 2014027893
ISBN978-1-107-07072-1Hardback
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CONTENTS
List of contributors vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
george pavlakos and veronica rodriguez-blanco
part i:
The Normative Meaning of Actions
1 Intentions, permissibility, and the reasons for
which we act 11
ulrike heuer
2 Acting and satisficing 31
sergio tenenbaum
3 Interpretation without intentions 52
heidi m. hurd
4 Metasemantics and legal interpretation 72
ori simchen
part ii:
Normativity of Legal Authority
5 Doing another’s bidding 95
matthew hanser
6 Legal authority and the paradox of intention in action 121
veronica rodriguez-blanco
7 The deliberative and epistemic dimension of legitimate
authoritative directives 140
antony hatzistavrou
v
vi contents
8 Public transit 159
a. j. julius
9 Ought we to do what we ought to be made to do?
Cohen and Nagel on the personal and the political 176
william a. edmundson
10 Juridical laws as moral laws in Kant’s The Doctrine
of Right 205
ben laurence
11 The relation between moral and legal obligation:
an alternative Kantian reading 228
george pavlakos
part iii:
The Social Dimension of Normativity
12 Law’s artifactual nature: how legal institutions generate
normativity 247
kenneth m. ehrenberg
13 American Legal Realism and practical guidance 267
manuel vargas and joshua p. davis
14 The authority of conventions, norms, and law 293
bruno verbeek
Select bibliography 314
Index 325
CONTRIBUTORS
joshua p. davis is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor,
and Director of the Center for Law and Ethics at the University of San
Francisco School of Law.
william a. edmundson isRegents’ProfessorofLawandPhilosophy
atGeorgiaStateUniversity.HeistheauthorofThreeAnarchicalFallacies
(1998) and An Introduction to Rights (2nd edn 2012).
kenneth m. ehrenberg is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and
Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Alabama.
matthew hanser is Professor of Philosophy at the University of
California, Santa Barbara.
antony hatzistavrou is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the
University of Hull. He is the author of Ancient Legal and Political
Philosophy (2014).
ulrike heuer is an Associate Professor in Philosophy at the
University of Leeds.
heidi m. hurd istheDavidC.BaumProfessorofLawandPhilosophy
at the University of Illinois. She is the author of Moral Combat
(Cambridge, 1999).
a. j. julius teaches philosophy at the University of California, Los
Angeles.
ben laurence isanAssistantProfessorinthePhilosophyDepartment
at the University of Chicago.
vii
viii list of contributors
george pavlakos is Research Professor at the Faculty of Law,
University of Antwerp and Professor at the School of Law, University
of Glasgow.
veronica rodriguez-blanco is Senior Lecturer at the University
of Birmingham School of Law, UK. She is the author of Law and
Authority Under the Guise of the Good (2014).
ori simchen is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British
Columbia. He is the author of Necessary Intentionality: A Study in the
Metaphysics of Aboutness (2012).
sergio tenenbaum is Professor of Philosophy at the University of
Toronto.HeistheauthorofAppearancesoftheGood(Cambridge,2007)
and the editor of Desire, Practical Reason, and the Good (2010).
manuel vargas is ProfessorofPhilosophyand Law atthe University
of San Francisco. He is the author of Building Better Beings: A Theory of
Moral Responsibility (2013) and a co-author of Four Views on Free Will
(2007).
bruno verbeek is Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Philosophy at
LeidenUniversityandafellowoftheCentreforPoliticalPhilosophy.He
is the author of Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy (2002)
and Reasons and Intentions (2008).