FSU College of Law Research Center Blog

Virtue Jurisprudence

A new book titled Virtue Jurisprudence by Colin Farrelly and Lawrence Solum has just been published.  Here's the publisher's description:

In moral theory, virtue ethics offers a third way - an alternative to the deontological and consequentialist approaches that dominated modern moral philosophy until very recently. What would happen if we transplanted virtue ethics into normative legal theory? The essays in this anthology are part of a growing body of work that answers that question. According to the advocates of virtue jurisprudence, the final end of law is to promote human flourishing - to enable humans to lead excellent lives. Can the virtue ethics tradition really help us address the fundamental concerns of legal theory-like judicial review, criminal and tort law? The authors of this volume believe it can. By shedding the constraints of consequentialist and deontological theories, these authors illustrate how the virtue ethics tradition can enrich legal theory in distinctive and diverse ways.

Posted by Jon Lutz

Short Introductions

Philosophy of Law: A Very Short Introduction
by Raymond Wacks

This lively and accessible introduction to the social, moral, and cultural foundations of law takes a broad scope-- spanning philosophy, law, politics, and economics, and discussing a range of topics including women's rights, racism, the environment, and recent international issues such as the war in Iraq and the treatment of terror suspects.

To browse the whole lot of Very Short Introductions published by Oxford University Press, point your mouse cursor here.

Some stores provide convenient series subject packaging; I wonder if The Brain Box works.

Posted by Toni Urquhart

The Bioethics of Food

Two recently published books discuss the bioethics of food.  Eating with Conscience: The Bioethics of  Food by Michael W. Fox.  Fox discusses the inner workings of the national food industry, including the treatment of animals, the use of herbicides, the loss of topsoil, and more.  The second book is The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. One of the most eye opening issues Pollan discusses is the issue of the prevalence of corn in the American diet.  He points out that in a basic meal like a hamburger, fries and a soda:  the steer are feed corn, the fries are cooked in corn oil and the soda is sweetened with corn syrup.  He reports that in a 45,000 item grocery store a third of the items contain corn.  Pollan discusses the health and ethical impact of an agricultural corn monoculture.

Posted by Jon Lutz

The Asylum Primer

The AILA Asylum Primer by Regina Germain, a veteran asylum attorney and former Senior Legal Counselor of the Washington Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is one of the Law Library's latest print acquisitions. "AILA's Asylum Primer provides practical, interpretive guidance of the entire asylum process. Intended for everyone from attorneys to government officials, from law professors to law students, from nonprofit organizations to asylum seekers themselves, AILA's Asylum Primer will help you understand and resolve critical asylum issues and provide answers to help you through the asylum process--from the first meeting until you close the case."  It is available in the Law Library on the third floor.

Excerpt taken from: http://www.ailapubs.org/ailasprim.html

Posted by Marin Dell

Freakonomics

"Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?  What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers  have in common?  Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?  These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask.  But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist."  The  Law Library owns this title as does Strozier, but both libraries have wait lists.  Purchase your copy at Amazon.

Posted by Trisha Simonds

Creating Winning Trial Strategies and Graphics

Creating Winning Trial Stratigies and Graphics by G. Christopher Ritter and published by the American Bar Association.  A "how to" book that not only teaches how to create winning trial graphics but also how and when to use them.  Available from Amazon.

Posted by Jon Lutz