Law's Task

What is the ultimate task of law? This deceptively simple question guides this volume towards a radically original philosophical interpretation of law and justice. Weaving together the philosophical, jurisprudential and ethical problems suggested by five general terms - thinking, human suffering, legal meaning, time and tragedy - the book places the idea of law's ultimate task in the context of what actually happens when people seek to do justice and enforce legal rights in a world that is inflected by the desperation and suffering of the many. It traces the rule of law all the way down to its most fundamental level: the existence of universal human suffering and how it is that law-doers inflict or tolerate that suffering. Chapter 1 A Summary of Themes; Chapter 2 The Guiding Question; Chapter 3 Suffering and Ethical Distress; Chapter 4 The Problem of Legal Meaning; Chapter 5 The Limits of Reason in Legal Interpretation; Chapter 6 The Times of Law and Religion; Chapter 7 The Tragedy of Law and Justice;