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Legal Theory Bookworm

By Lawrence Solum

It is with special pleasure that the Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Causation and Responsibility by Michael S. Moore, a work that is sure to become a classic.  Here is a description:

The concept of causation is fundamental to ascribing moral and legal responsibility for events. Yet the relationship between causation and responsibility remains unclear. What precisely is the connection between the concept of causation used in attributing responsibility and the accounts of causal relations offered in the philosophy of science and metaphysics? How much of what we call causal responsibility is in truth defined by non-causal factors? This book argues that much of the legal doctrine on these questions is confused and incoherent, and offers the first comprehensive attempt since Hart and Honore to clarify the philosophical background to the legal and moral debates.

The book first sets out the place of causation in criminal and tort law and then outlines the metaphysics presupposed by the legal doctrine. It then analyses the best theoretical accounts of causation in the philosophy of science and metaphysics, and using these accounts criticizes many of the core legal concepts surrounding causation - such as intervening causation, forseeability of harm and complicity. It considers and rejects the radical proposals to eliminate the notion of causation from law by using risk analysis to attribute responsibility. The result of the analysis is a powerful argument for revising our understanding of the role played by causation in the attribution of legal and moral responsibility.

And from the reviews:

The most comprehensive study of this topic since Hart and Honore, this work pulsates with arguments and examples, all in the service of an integrated picture of the interactions between law, morals, the philosophy of mind, and the metaphysics of causation. Moore's uncompromising realism brings a remarkable unity to his argument, and will form the starting point for any similar discussion from now onwards. Simon Blackburn, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge

My very highest recommendation--this book deserves a place on the shelf of every legal academic.
Buy it!

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on February 21, 2009 (boomark / email).