Offense to others is the second volume of what will surely be come professor joel feinbergs magnum opus, a unified four vol ume inquiry into the moral limits. Harm to self joel feinberg oxford university press. Content analyses of newspaper opeds study 2a and publicservice announcements study 2b found that contemporary environmental discourse is based largely on moral concerns related to harm and care, which are more deeply held by liberals than by conservatives. Within the universe of such conduct, the legislature is free to deter. Hart, joel feinberg, herbert wechsler, and other liberal legal thinkers at midcentury, as the critical principle used to shield individuals from the legal enforcement of morals legislationincluding. In harm to self, feinberg discusses various problems about self. The second section engages feinbergs work on rights and. In his recent book, harm to others, joel feinberg addresses the question whether a person can be harmed after his or her own death, that is, whether posthumous harm is a logical possibility. The offense principle, which feinberg also defends, can be stated as follows. In essence, feinbergs goal is to develop moral principles to which legislatures may repair in. The first volume in joel feinbergs fourvolume series the moral limits of the criminal law, harm to others focuses on the harm principle, the commonsense. This essay will argue against the notion that the harm principle is the only concept that is appropriate to use when contemplating to limit the liberty of citizens in a democratic state.
In the second volume, offense to others, feinberg distinguishes harm from. Freedom of speech and the many uses of state power. Aug 30, 2016 feinberg therefore supplements his harm principle with a second principle permitting interference with nonvoluntary actions that involve a setback of interests feinberg 1986, pp. Accepted 29 december 29 1999 california state university. The first section of the paper applies feinbergs analysis of freedom of expression to a contemporary case of academic freedom. This is the third volume of joel feinbergs highly regarded the moral limits of the criminal law, a fourvolume series in which feinberg skillfully addresses a complex question. But as i mention in the text, the rough distinction he.
Offense to others is the second volume of what will surely be come professor joel feinbergs magnum opus, a unified four vol ume inquiry into the moral limits of the criminal law. So, the threat of harm to others is the only legitimate reason for states to constrain the individual liberty of their citizens. Joel feinberg, whose harm to others is the first volume in a projected four volume study entitled the moral limits of the criminal law, is professor of philosophy. In harm to self, feinberg offers insightful commentary into various notions attached to selfinflicted harm, covering such topics as legal. The four volumes together make a powerful case for othe liberal positionoon the moral limits of the criminal law. The first section of the paper applies feinberg s analysis of freedom of expression to a contemporary case of academic freedom. Freedom of speech stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Offense to others moral limits of the criminal law. For free speech advocates, this claim is something of a truism. This first volume in the fourvolume series the moral limits of the c. Joel feinbergs the moral limits of the criminal law will in the end consist of four volumes. Harm to others joel feinberg moral limits of the criminal law. The philosophy of joel feinberg received 14 march 2005. Harm to others edition 1 by joel feinberg 9780195046649.
The second volume in joel feinbergs series the moral limits of the criminal law, offense to others focuses on the offense principle, which maintains that preventing shock, disgust, or revulsion is always a morally relevant reason for legal prohibitions. Reformulating mills harm principle mind oxford academic. Feinberg defines harm as a wrongful setback of an interest, and he explains how the harm principle bears on particular contexts and cases by articulating and defending a number of mediating maxims. Only the latter sensewrongful offenseis intended in the offense principle as we shall understand it. Feinberg liberal, personal sovereignty rules out all restrictions except those stemming from wrongful harm and offense to nonconsenting others and nonvoluntary harm to self. Project muse from the harm principle to harm decisionism. In the first volume, feinberg looks at the principle of harm to others.
This is the third volume of joel feinberg s highly regarded the moral limits of the criminal law, a fourvolume series in which feinberg skillfully addresses a complex question. This is the third volume of the moral limits of the criminal law, a four. It might seem to do so by allowing the state to regulate all kinds of behavior. There is a very strong tendency to suppose that harm to the dead is simply inconceivable. We can also use the verb to offend meaning to cause another to experience a mental state. In this volume, feinberg focuses on the meanings of interest, the relationship between interests and wants, and the distinction between wantregarding and idealregarding analyses on interest and hard cases for the applications of the concept of harm. Pdf the moral limits of the criminal law volume 1 harm. This first volume in the fourvolume series the moral limits of the criminal law focuses on the harm principle, the commonsense view that. Instead, he adopts the argumentum ad hominem technique. Offense to others by joel feinberg, 1985 online research. In this volume, feinberg focuses on the meanings of interest, the relationship between interests and wants, and the distinction between wantregarding and idealregarding analyses of interest and hard cases for. Joel feinberg october 19, 1926 in detroit, michigan march 29, 2004 in tucson, arizona was an american political and legal philosopher. Joel feinberg 1986 social philosophy and policy 4 1. Each volume deals with a single kind of reason that is offered for restricting lib erty.
Feinberg presents a detailed analysis of the concept and definition of harm. Feinberg states that an act of offense should be considered a good enough reason to interfere with the liberty of a citizen in a democratic state. This first volume in the fourvolume series the moral limits of the criminal law focuses on the harm principle, the commonsense view that prevention of harm to persons other than the perpetrator is a legitimate purpose of criminal legislation. Instead, the principal justification is the multiple harms that. But as i mention in the text, the rough distinction he offers is suf. The harm principle and other libertylimiting principles fau. Collapse of the harm principle similarly, in the pornography debate, professor catharine mackinnon has proposed influential administrative and judicial measures to regulate pornographic material. What kinds of conduct may the state make criminal without infringing on the moral autonomy of individual citizens.
The second volume in joel feinberg s series the moral limits of the criminal law, offense to others focuses on the offense principle, which maintains that preventing shock, disgust, or revulsion is always a morally relevant reason for legal prohibitions. I suspect that, due to these worries and others, feinbergs treatment of the distinction between offense and harm is ultimately too imprecise to cover all cases. May 16, 1985 the second volume in joel feinberg s series the moral limits of the criminal law, offense to others focuses on the offense principle, which maintains that preventing shock, disgust, or revulsion is always a morally relevant reason for legal prohibitions. The first volume, harm to others, defines and qualifies the harm principle, the relatively noncontroversial but potentially allencompassing notion that the need to prevent harm private or public to parties other than the actor is always an appropriate. The moral roots of environmental attitudes matthew. Known as the harm to others principleor harm principle for shortmills simple sentence emerged, in the hands of h.
The first volume in joel feinberg s fourvolume series the moral limits of the criminal law, harm to others focuses on the harm principle, the commonsense view that prevention of harm to persons other than the perpetrator is a legitimate purpose of coercive legislation. Postema and others published collective evils, harms, and the law. To prevent serious offense to persons other than the actor is always a good reason for prohibiting an action, provided the prohibition is effective and. Feinberg also discusses the relationship between harm and rights, the concept of a victim, and the distinctions of various quantitative dimensions of harm, consent, and offense, including the magnitude, probability, risk, and importance of harm. Feinbergs theory of preposthumous harm volume 25 issue 4 w. This is the third volume in feinbergs mammoth tetralogy the moral. In a society that values expressive liberty, being offended by the speech of others is one of the burdens we all have to bear. However, it is clear from feinbergs formulations of the offense. Feinberg, joel the moral limits of the criminal law. The first volume in joel feinbergs fourvolume series the moral limits of the criminal law, harm to others focuses on the harm principle, the commonsense view that prevention of harm to persons other than the perpetrator is a legitimate purpose of coercive legislation. In essence, feinberg s goal is to develop moral principles to which legislatures may repair in deciding what to criminalize.
Feinberg clarifies the concept of an offended mental state and further contrasts the concept of offense with harm. Feinberg presents a detailed analysis of the concept and definition of harm and applies it to a host of practical and theoretical issues, showing how. Does that show that feinbergs supplement to the harm principle, the offense principle, completely undermines the harm principle. Harm to others joel feinberg harm to others 288 pages oxford university press, 1984 1984 joel feinberg 019802052x, 9780198020523 this first volume in the fourvolume series the moral limits of the criminal law focuses on the harm principle, the commonsense view that prevention of harm to. Harm to others joel feinberg oxford university press. We can allow that when speech is positively harmful, we will have to balance expressive liberty with the legitimate aim of harmprevention. The collapse of the harm principle northwestern university. This paper is offered as a tribute to joel feinberg. Feinbergs offense principle and the harm principle.
In this volume, feinberg focuses on the meanings of interest, the relationship between interests and wants, and the distinction between wantregarding and idealregarding analyses of interest and hard cases for the aplication of the concept of harm. Feinberg acknowledges the need to move beyond harm to others, the only limitation on liberty mill accepted. The second section engages feinberg s work on rights and. The harm principle holds that the actions of individuals should only be limited to prevent harm to other individuals. However, it is clear from feinberg s formulations of the offense. Nov 12, 2014 feinberg states that an act of offense should be considered a good enough reason to interfere with the liberty of a citizen in a democratic state. The principles, properly applied, specify what conduct may legitimately be prohibited. Dec 25, 2015 in harm to self, feinberg discusses various problems about selfinflicted harm, covering such topics as legal paternalism, personal sovereignty and its boundaries, voluntariness and assumptions of risk, consent and its counterfeits, coercive force, incapacity, and choice of death. Feinberg does not argue for liberalism directly by appealing to omoral primitiveso or oselfevident truthso harm to others, p. Feinberg presents a detailed analysis of the concept and definition of harm and applies it to a host of practical and theoretical issues, showing how the harm principle must be interpreted if it is to be a plausible guide to the lawmaker. Tunick spring 2000 the harm principle and other libertylimiting principles. He is known for his work in the fields of ethics, action theory, philosophy of law, and political philosophy as well as individual rights and the authority of the state. John stuart mill articulated this principle in on liberty, where he argued that the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. The goal of the harm principle was to limit the states ability to regulate behavior by ruling most behavior out of bounds.
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