The Politics of Caesura: Giorgio Agamben on Language and the Law

The concept of division or caesura is central to the political and legal philosophy of Giorgio Agamben. This paper examines the different ways in which Agamben characterises the law in terms of caesura, and the manner in which this analysis of law is grounded in his analyses of language. I argue that there are two forms of legal division to be found in Agamben’s political analyses. The first is the division that occurs when the legal system produces determinate identities, such as those of nation, and socio-economic status. However, this form of division is itself predicated upon the division that delimits the law as such, the caesura between political and bare life. The way that Agamben sets up both of these political problems is deeply indebted to his analyses of the ‘presuppositional structure’ of metaphysical language—the fracture between signification and its excess.

A Key Influence on the Doctrine of Actual Malice: Justice William Brennan's Judicial Philosophy at Work in Changing the Law of Seditious Libel

Much of the scholarship on Justice William Brennan's landmark opinion in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan has focused on the actual malice doctrine and its implications. In light of the historic change in the law of seditious libel in the United States as a result of the case and the need for further exploration of the human factors behind the case, this article explains how Justice Brennan's instrumentalist judicial philosophy had an important influence on changing the course of legal protection for speech critical of the government. The article concludes that the outcome of the case probably would have differed notably if a justice with a formalist, Holmesian or natural law philosophy had authored the opinion for the Court.     

Hart Interviewed: H.L.A. Hart in Conversation with David Sugarman

Within the English-speaking world, H.L.A. Hart (1907–1992) is regarded as the twentieth century's foremost legal philosopher. He revived the moribund discipline of jurisprudence, reorientating it so that the qualities associated with analytical philosophy in the second half of the twentieth century² were applied to the investigation of the most fundamental concepts of law and to major public issues, notably, the complex relation between law and morality. As a colleague, teacher, mentor, and author, he exercised a profound influence, an influence that extended to the 'real world' and 'real issues'. From the late 1950s onwards, he championed a new humaneness in punishment, speaking and writing for a right to abortion and against the death penalty and the prosecution of people because of their sexual preferences. His exploration of the balance between the modern welfare state and individual liberty - in particular, the legitimate use of state power to impose standards of private morality -produced an eloquent and highly influential manifesto for modern political liberalism. As Tony Honore, his close colleague at Oxford, put it,'He was the most widely read British legal philosopher of the twentieth century and his work will continue to be a focus of discussion.³     

关于罪犯谈话教育艺术的探讨

对罪犯进行谈话教育是监狱警察的一项基本功，是教育改造罪犯的基本手段之一。谈话效果如何，不仅关系到教育改造罪犯的质量，对监管安全稳定也将发挥不同的作用。笔者结合基层管教工作实践和心得体会，分析典型案例，总结工作经验，就谈话教育的方法和技巧进行深入思考，以期对罪犯教育改造工作有所裨益。     

加强地方立法 全面推进人民调解工作

近几年来,青海省十分重视采取各种措施特别是通过地方立法解决人民调解中存在的突出问题,认真规范和全面推进人民调解工作,取得了明显的成效。在省委、省人大常委会、省政府的领导、关心和支持下,《青海省人民调解工作条例》(以下简称《条例》)于2005年9月经省人大常委会审议通     

监狱工作宗旨论析——基于执法为民理念

文章基于执法为民理念,阐释对监狱工作宗旨的理解。文章认为,监狱工作宗旨根源于党的根本宗旨,其实质是为人民服务;“为罪犯服务”的提法因其政治上、法律上的谬误而有悖于监狱工作宗旨,而“为罪犯改造服务”的提法因其逻辑上的含混而无法正确诠释监狱工作宗旨;监狱警察履行监狱工作宗旨,应当做到牢固树立人民公仆意识,忠诚执法,自觉服务于构建社会主义和谐社会。     

工伤认定中若干法律问题探讨

正确认定工伤,首先要根据工伤的构成要件准确把握工伤的概念,其次要能够准确把握劳务关系、雇佣关系、委托关系与事实劳动关系之间的异同,最后需要结合实际对工作原因、工作场所、上下班途中等三大要素作出合理认定。     

The Practice of Law as an Obstacle to Justice: Chinese Lawyers at Work

This article helps strengthen our comparative and theoretical understanding of lawyers as gatekeepers to justice by analyzing the screening practices of lawyers in a non-Western context. The explanation for Chinese lawyers' aversion to representing workers with labor grievances focuses on their own working conditions, on the organization of their legal labor, and on their evaluations of the moral character of prospective clients. By linking the screening practices of Chinese lawyers to their socioeconomic insecurity and to popular stereotypes informing and legitimating their screening decisions, this article identifies institutional and cultural obstacles not only to the official justice system but also to cause lawyering. After establishing motives for screening clients, this article then demonstrates lawyers' screening methods: by defining legal reality in strategic and often misleading ways, lawyers use the law as a weapon against the interests of the individuals who seek their help.     

A Fragment on Cnutism with Brief Divagations on the Philosophy of the Near Miss

This fragment is taken, mid-sentence as it were, from a longer discourse. It is plucked in process from a discussion of friendship for ideas. It is part of a longer journey through the annals of amity. The fragment also examines a fragment, a gloss on a text, a marginal comment, a handwritten note, which is taken to constitute the modern origin of Cnutism.     

公安院校哲学原理教学方法探索

马克思主义哲学原理是公安院校开设的公共必修课程,但长期以来,学生普遍存在着轻视哲学课的思维定势。近年来,为了提高教学质量,我们对哲学原理教学方法进行了积极的探索,具体把教学方法化为四个步骤,取得了一定的教学效果。     

System Justification, Satisfaction, and Perceptions of Fairness and Typicality at Work: A Cross-System Comparison Involving the U.S. and Hungary

This research addresses system justification tendencies in the United States and Hungary and their potential to shape reactions to equity–equality tradeoffs in the workplace. Participants in both nations were asked to rate the fairness of, their satisfaction with, and the typicality of four hypothetical work situations. These scenarios differed in terms of which distributive justice principle was violated (equity or equality) and whether the violation favored the participant or the co-worker (self or other). While the mean level of system justification was lower in Hungary than in the U.S., multilevel models revealed that in both societal contexts the motivation to justify the system was associated with participants’ perceptions of justice in the workplace. Based on the characteristics of the two social systems, however, these tendencies played out differently. Specifically, for the U.S. participants system justification was associated with more favorable views of work situations that emphasized equity over equality and that rewarded the self over others, whereas for Hungarian participants system justification was associated with more favorable views of work situations that emphasized equality over equity and that rewarded others over the self. Results also revealed that Americans (but not Hungarians) who scored higher on system justification perceived as fairer that which they perceived as more typical of their society. Taken as a whole, the evidence suggests that the psychological transfer of legitimacy from socialism to capitalism in Hungary remains incomplete.     

关于加强和改进县级司法行政工作的若干思考

司法行政制度是国家司法制度的重要组成部分。县级司法行政工作是整个司法行政事业创新发展的根基。加强和改进县级司法行政工作，对于推进社会主义民主法治建设、促进政府职能转变、保障和服务经济社会发展、维护社会和谐稳定，具有十分重要的现实意义，事关司法行政事业的科学发展。     

北京市人民调解工作调研报告

8月28日至31日,司法部研究室副主任王公义组织调研组,就北京市人民调解工作进行专题调研。北京市司法局对这次调研工作非常重视,副局长王友江、助理巡视员王叔宜和有关处室负责人参加了调研。调研组先后在通州区、朝阳区、东城区和市司法局参加座谈会,听取了区司法局和市司法局关于人民调解工作的介绍,并对人民调解工作进行了实地考察。一、北京市人民调解工作的基本情况人民调解工作在化解矛盾纠纷,维护社会和谐稳定方面发挥着越来越重要的作用。北京市司法局的领导高度重视人民调解工作,市各级司法行政机关在人民调解工作中改革创新,积极…     

创新执法理念 加强公安刑事执法的思考——以贯彻我国新《刑事诉讼法》为视角

我国新《刑事诉讼法》以惩罚犯罪与保障人权相结合、实体公正与程序公正并重为基本理念,强化了侦察措施,规范了司法程序,完善了证据制度。这次《刑事诉讼法》修改无论从理念上还是从实践上都对公安刑事执法工作带来了重大影响,首都公安机关要紧紧抓住学习贯彻新《刑事诉讼法》这一有利契机,始终坚持"理性、平和、文明、规范"的执法理念,进一步规范执法流程,强化执法监督,加大保障力度,推动公安刑事执法工作创新发展。     

康德法哲学视野下的“动物权利论”批判

当代动物权利运动的主将汤姆·雷根提出的动物权利论遮蔽了道德共同体成员的理性和道德义务这两个道德理论中的核心概念,忽视了理性、义务在构建道德共同体中的必要性,也不能在逻辑上全面地说明动物与人类之间以及动物之间的关系。康德主义的道德哲学则仅通过“实践理性”这一标准,即可合理说明人与动物在道德上的不同地位,也能更好地解释和指导人类利用和保护动物的实践。     

反思知识产权之合法性基础——以正义论为视角的分析

TRIPs协议推动了知识产权制度的全球化,但产生了发展不平衡的问题.在TRIPs协议下,主权国家根据国情采取适当的知识产权政策显得非常困难,尤其是发展中国家在面临健康、教育等人类基本需求方面的问题,导致人们反思知识产权理论的合法性.从正义论角度重构知识产权理论,知识产权制度将在保护知识创新者利益的基础上,承认知识产权所具有的社会功能.