Legislative Intent and Other Essays on Law, Politics, and MoralityIn the last years of his life, Gerald C. MacCallum, Jr. defied illness to continue his work on the philosophy of law. This book is a monument to MacCallum's effort, containing fourteen of his essays, five of them published here for the first time. Two of those previously published are widely admired and reprinted: "Legislative Intent", certainly one of the best papers published on its topic, and "Negative and Positive Freedom", which offered a new way of looking at a distinction that had been canonical for the last two centuries. To complete MacCallum's unfinished pieces, Marcus G. Singer and Rex Martin painstakingly consulted MacCallum's notes for planned revisions. MacCallum discusses legal reasoning, the application of rules, the interpretation of statutes and constitutional provisions, and the relation of these matters to morality and justice. In the last decade of his working life, he became greatly concerned with the interrelated themes of integrity, autonomy, conscience, and violence. He became interested in the relations between competition and morality and between justice and adversarial systems of law. These themes are woven together in Legislative Intent and constitute the main subject of some of the essays. MacCallum was engaged in a constant search for truth and understanding and in his life and work lived up to Emerson's vision of the "American Scholar" as "Man Thinking". These essays are informed by the author's deep curiosity, penetrating intelligence, wide knowledge, and outstanding character. They will be treasured wherever these characteristics and true philosophy are treasured. |
Contents
On Applying Rules is reprinted with the permission of the editor | 3 |
Competition and Moral Philosophy Previously unpublished | 12 |
Negative and Positive Freedom 1967 | 85 |
6 | 91 |
Some Truths and Untruths about Civil | 102 |
789 | 127 |
The Extent to which Legislators Should Serve | 153 |
Dworkin on Judicial Discretion 1963 | 168 |
Violence and Appeals to Conscience 1974 | 178 |
Law Conscience and Integrity was presented at the 1971 Oberlin | 214 |
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Common terms and phrases
acceptance achieve action activities actually administrators aims appeals apply argument attempts authority behavior believe called circumstances civil disobedience claim clear clearly competition concerning connection conscience consider considerations constituents correct count course decision depends determining difficulties discretion discussion distinction effects efforts engage example expected expression fact fight freedom further grounds human ideals important integrity intent interest Interpretation involved issues judges judgment judicial justified kind lead least legislative legislative intent legislature limits MacCallum matter means merely moral nature one's perhaps persons political position possible precisely present problem protection question raised range reason regard relevant require resort respect restrictions result rule seems seen sense serve simply situation slogan social sometimes statute Statutory Interpretation suggested suppose things thought tion true understanding values various violate violence wish wrong