Law, Ideology and Punishment: Retrieval and Critique of the Liberal Ideal of Criminal Justice

238 Pages·1990·12.892 MB·English

by  Alan W. Norrie (auth.)

LAW, IDEOLOGY AND PUNISHMENT
Law and Philosophy Library
VOLUME 12
Managing Editors
ALAN MABE, Department of Philosophy, Florida State University,
Tallahassee, Florida 32306, U.SA.
MICHAEL D. BAY LESt, Department of Philosophy, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, U.SA.
AULIS AARNIO, Department of Civil Law, University of Helsinki,
Vuorikatu 5c, SF-OOlOO Helsinki, Finland
Editorial Advisory Board
ROBERT ALEXY, Lehrstuhlfur Offentliches Recht und Rechtsphilosophie,
Christian Albrechts-Universitiit, Kiel
GEORGE P. FLETCHER, School of Law, Columbia University
ERNESTO GARZ6N VALDES, Institut fur Politikwissenschaft,
Johannes Gutenberg Universitiit Mainz
JOHN KLEINIG, Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal
Justice Administration, John Jay College of Criminal Justice,
City University of New York
NICOLA LACEY, New College, Oxford University
NEIL MacCORMICK, Centre for Criminology and the Social and
Philosophical Study of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Edinburgh
ALEKSANDER PECZENIK, Juridiska Institutionen, University ofL und
NIGEL SIMMONDS, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University
ROBERT S. SUMMERS, School of Law, Cornell University
ALICE ERH-SOON T A Y, Faculty ofL aw, University of Sydney
ERNEST J. WEINRIB, Faculty ofL aw, University of Toronto
CARL WELLMAN, Department of Philosophy, Washington University
The titles published in this series are listed at the end oft his volume.
ALAN W. NORRIE
School of Law, University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K.
LAW, IDEOLOGY
AND
PUNISHMENT
Retrieval and Critique of the
Liberal Ideal of Criminal Justice
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
DORDRECHT I BOSTON I LONDON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Norrie, Alan W. (Alan William), 1953-
Law, ideology, and punishment: historical critique of the liberal
ideal of criminal justice I by Alan W. Norrie.
p. cm. -- (Law and phi losophy library; v. 12)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
1. Punishment. 2. Criminal justice, Administration of. 3. Kant,
Immanuel, 1724-1804. I. Title. II. Series.
K5103.N67 1990
340' .1--dc20 90-48892
ISBN-I 3 : 978-94-010-6800-0 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-0699-0
DOT: 10.1007/978-94-009-0699-0
Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Kluwer Academic Publishers incorporates
the publishing programmes of
D. Reidel, Martinus Nijhoff, Dr W. Junk and MTP Press.
Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada
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In all other countries, sold and distributed
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Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers
Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1991
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
for my father, Tom,
and in memory of my mother, Gertrude
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE xiii
CHAPTER!. LAW, IDEOLOGY AND PUNISHMENT 1
l. Introduction: Critique and Retrieval of
the Liberal Ideal of Criminal Justice 1
2. Between Appearance and Reality: the
Contradictions of Legal Ideology 7
l. Abstract Individualism versus Concrete
Individuality 8
2. Individual Right versus Social Power 10
3. Juridical Ideology and the Philosophy
of Punishment 11
CHAPTER I!. THE BIRTH OF JURIDICAL
INDNIDUALISM: HOBBES AND THE
PHILOSOPHY OF PUNISHMENT 15
1. Introduction 15
2. Contradiction in the Hobbesian Philosophy
of Punishment 21
3. Hobbes's Juridical Individualism 25
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
4. Hobbes and the Historical Development of
the Philosophy of Punishment 31
5. Conclusion 35
CHAPTER ill. PURIFYING JURIDICAL INDIVIDUALISM:
KANT'S RETRIBUTIVISM 39
1. Introduction 39
2. The Metaphysical Basis of Punishment 45
1. Two Concepts of Will and Freedom 45
2. Law and Justice 49
3. Coercion and Punishment 50
3. 'A Theory Built on Tension' 54
1. The Gap between Theory and Practice 55
2. Applying the Jus Talionis 59
4. Conclusion: Kant's Juridical Individualism 61
CHAPTER IV. RATIONALISING JURIDICAL
INDIVIDUALISM - AND THE RISE OF
'THE IRRATIONAL': HEGEL 65
1. Introduction 65
2. The Hegelian Justification of Punishment 69
1. Absolute Idealism and the Philosophy
of Right 69
2. Coercion, Punishment and Proportionality 72
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
3. 'From the Point of View of Abstract Right' 77
1. The Gap between Theory and Practice 78
2. Proportionality of Punishment 81
4. Reason, Reality and the Irruption of 'the
Irrational' 83
1. The Nature of Criminality 83
2. The Measure of Punishment 84
5. Conclusion 86
CHAPTERV. ABSTRACT RIGHT AND THE
SOCIALISATION OF WRONG:
RETRIBUTIVISM'S ENGLISH DECLINE
AND FALL 89
1. Introduction 89
2. Revising the Classical Tradition:T.H.Green 90
1. Green's Philosophy of Punishment 90
2. Contradictions in Green's Account 96
3. Juridical Individualism, Concrete
Individuality and State Power 102
3. Revising the Classical Tradition: Bradley
and Bosanquet 105
1. F.H.Bradley 105
2. Bernard Bosanquet 108
4. Conclusion 110
x TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI. JURIDICAL INDIVIDUALISM AND
STATE POWER: UTll..,1TARIANISM
IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 113
1. Introduction 113
2. The Triumph of Utilitarianism 114
1. The Utilitarian Context 116
2. A Utilitarian Morality of Punishment 121
3. Utilitarianism and Individual Right 125
1. Refining Utilitarianism and the
Definitional Stop' 126
2. Retributive Punishment as a Legal
Requirement 128
3. Two-Stage Approaches to Retributivism 132
4. Conclusion 135
CHAPTER VII. JURIDICAL INDIVIDUALISM,
INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM AND
CRIMINAL mSTICE 139
1. Introduction 139
2. Defending Freewill 143
1. Determinism and Freewill as Compatible
Doctrines 143
2. The Incoherence of Psychological
Determinism 150
TABLE OF CONTENTS xi
3. Freewill, Detenninism and Criminal Justice 154
1. Excusing Conditions 154
2. Mitigating Punishment 159
4. Conclusion 162
CHAPTERVill. JURIDICAL INDIVIDUALISM, STATE
POWER AND LEGAL REASONING 167
1. Introduction 167
2. Legal Reasoning and Criminal Responsibility 170
1. D.P.P. v. Majewski 170
2. R. v. Caldwell 173
3. Abbott v. The Queen 177
4. Analysis 181
3. Speaking the Language of Law 183
4. Conclusion 186
CHAPTER IX. THE LIMITS OF LEGAL IDEOLOGY 189
1. The Philosophical -Historical Development
of the Liberal Ideal of Criminal Punishment 189
2. The Return to Kant 196
3. The Ideal and the Actual 200
BIBLIOGRAPHY 205
INDEX 213