Law & Society Blog

In a recent post, I claimed rather traditionally that consequentialism and deontological ethics are based on two basic moral intuitions that coexist peacefully over a wide range of normal situations but lead to sharply different results in extreme situations. Usually, these extreme situations pit the vital interests of one person or a handful of people […]

This new paper by Brian Bix looks like a must read. Here is the abstract:
Gustav Radbruch is well known for a “formula” that addresses the conflict of positive law and justice, a formula discussed in the context of the consideration of Nazi laws by the courts in the post-War German Federal Republic, and East […]

What are the costs of government?Organizing collective action, including, of course, the opportunitiy cost of those whose individual choices are being replaced by collective action.Enforcing the rules promulgated by the government, which requires courts, police, and an admininstrative system.The costs of providing traditional public goods such as roads and education.The primary gains from government are the reduction of uncertainty and the lowering of transaction costs for exchanges among strangers.There are certain common environmental factors that influence both the direct costs of government and the (indirect) gains from government…. The greater the population size, the higher the cost of organizing and enforcing collective action (cost) and the greater the potential benefits from trade.Diversity.

They are no more likely to support Islamic terrorism than the people already here—probably less likely.The second is that the U.S. doesn’t control its borders, isn’t going to control its borders, and probably cannot at any acceptable cost control its borders, in the sense relevant to the terrorist issue. In 2004, the most recent year for which I found figures, there were more than eighty million tourist arrivals in North America, presumably most of them in the U.S. Anyone with sufficient resources and ability to pose a serious terrorist threat can get into the country as one of those tens of millions—he doesn’t have to scramble through a tunnel under the U.S./Mexican border.

Non-relativistic moral theory oscillates between the two great intuitions of consequentionalism and deontological theories…. The problem is that it leads to horrendous results, where the few are sacrificed for the good of the many.