How are law and morality connected, how do they interact, and in what ways are they distinct? Matthew Kramer argues that moral principles can enter into the law of any jurisdiction, yet reaffirms the legal positivist argument that law and morality are separable. Through a variety of discussions, Where Law and Morality Meet highlights both some surprising affinities and some striking divergences between morality and law.

• PREFACE


• CONTENTS


• INTRODUCTION


• PART I -- WHERE LAW AND MORALITY MEET: LEGAL POSITIVISM AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF LEGAL NORMS


• CHAPTER 1: HOW MORAL PRINCIPLES CAN ENTER INTO THE LAW


• CHAPTER 2: THROWING LIGHT ON THE ROLE OF MORAL PRINCIPLES IN THE LAW: FURTHER REFLECTIONS


• CHAPTER 3: ON MORALITY AS A NECESSARY OR SUFFICIENT CONDITION FOR LEGALITY


• CHAPTER 4: OF FINAL THINGS: MORALITY AS ONE OF THE ULTIMATE DETERMINANTS OF LEGAL VALIDITY


• PART II -- WHERE LAW AND MORALITY DIVERGE: LEGAL POSITIVISM REAFFIRMED


• CHAPTER 5: LEGAL POSITIVISM DEFENDED


• CHAPTER 6: ON THE MORAL STATUS OF THE RULE OF LAW


• CHAPTER 7: ON THE SEPARABILITY OF LAW AND MORALITY


• PART III -- FROM LEGAL PHILOSOPHY TO MORAL PHILOSOPHY: AFFINITIES BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY


• CHAPTER 8: MORAL RIGHTS AND THE LIMITS OF THE 'OUGHT'-IMPLIES-'CAN' PRINCIPLE: WHY IMPECCABLE INTENTIONS ARE NO EXCUSE

Matthew H. Kramer is Professor of Legal and Political Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of Churchill College, and Director of the Cambridge Forum for Legal and Political Philosophy.