Stuart P. Green
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199225804
- eISBN:
- 9780191708411
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199225804.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Employment Law
The picture of crime that dominates the popular imagination is one of unambiguous wrong-doing — manifestly harmful acts that are clearly worthy of condemnation. The accompanying picture of the ...
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The picture of crime that dominates the popular imagination is one of unambiguous wrong-doing — manifestly harmful acts that are clearly worthy of condemnation. The accompanying picture of the criminal — the thief, the murderer — is a picture of society's failures, to be cast out and re-integrated through a process of punishment and penance. Our understanding of white-collar crime, by contrast, is pervaded by moral and imaginative ambiguity. Such crimes are committed by society's success stories, by the rich and the powerful, and frequently have no visible victim at their root. The problem of marrying these disparate pictures has led to a confusion of the boundaries of white-collar crime. How is it possible to distinguish criminal fraud from mere lawful ‘puffing’, tax evasion from ‘tax avoidance’, insider trading from ‘savvy investing’, obstruction of justice from ‘zealous advocacy’, bribery from ‘log rolling’, and extortion from ‘hard bargaining’? How should we, as scholars and students, lawyers and judges, law enforcement officials and the general public, distinguish the lawful from the unlawful, the civil from the criminal? This study exposes the ambiguities and uncertainties that pervade the white-collar crimes, and offers an approach to their solution. Drawing on recent cases involving such figures as Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton, Tom DeLay, Scooter Libby, Jeffrey Archer, Enron's Kenneth Lay and Andrew Fastow, and the Arthur Anderson accounting firm, this book weaves together disparate threads of the criminal code to reveal a complex web of moral insights about the nature of guilt and innocence and what, fundamentally, constitutes conduct worthy of punishment by criminal sanction.Less
The picture of crime that dominates the popular imagination is one of unambiguous wrong-doing — manifestly harmful acts that are clearly worthy of condemnation. The accompanying picture of the criminal — the thief, the murderer — is a picture of society's failures, to be cast out and re-integrated through a process of punishment and penance. Our understanding of white-collar crime, by contrast, is pervaded by moral and imaginative ambiguity. Such crimes are committed by society's success stories, by the rich and the powerful, and frequently have no visible victim at their root. The problem of marrying these disparate pictures has led to a confusion of the boundaries of white-collar crime. How is it possible to distinguish criminal fraud from mere lawful ‘puffing’, tax evasion from ‘tax avoidance’, insider trading from ‘savvy investing’, obstruction of justice from ‘zealous advocacy’, bribery from ‘log rolling’, and extortion from ‘hard bargaining’? How should we, as scholars and students, lawyers and judges, law enforcement officials and the general public, distinguish the lawful from the unlawful, the civil from the criminal? This study exposes the ambiguities and uncertainties that pervade the white-collar crimes, and offers an approach to their solution. Drawing on recent cases involving such figures as Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton, Tom DeLay, Scooter Libby, Jeffrey Archer, Enron's Kenneth Lay and Andrew Fastow, and the Arthur Anderson accounting firm, this book weaves together disparate threads of the criminal code to reveal a complex web of moral insights about the nature of guilt and innocence and what, fundamentally, constitutes conduct worthy of punishment by criminal sanction.
Martha K. Hugginsv, Mika Haritos-Fatouros, and Philip G. Zimbardo
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520234468
- eISBN:
- 9780520928916
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520234468.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Latin American Cultural Anthropology
This introductory chapter explains the theme and coverage of this book, which is about the role of policemen in Brazil as violence workers, torturers, and murderers, and explores how men from ...
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This introductory chapter explains the theme and coverage of this book, which is about the role of policemen in Brazil as violence workers, torturers, and murderers, and explores how men from Brazil's two main police forces describe their careers, explain police behavior, and justify their violence. It investigates how they came to perpetrate atrocity and describes the personal consequences of their complicity with the official program of state-sponsored violence that they may have carried with them all these years.Less
This introductory chapter explains the theme and coverage of this book, which is about the role of policemen in Brazil as violence workers, torturers, and murderers, and explores how men from Brazil's two main police forces describe their careers, explain police behavior, and justify their violence. It investigates how they came to perpetrate atrocity and describes the personal consequences of their complicity with the official program of state-sponsored violence that they may have carried with them all these years.
Joshua Rozenberg
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199288472
- eISBN:
- 9780191700507
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199288472.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
Do we need a law of privacy? Drawing a line between justified and unjustified intrusion places great stresses on our legal traditions with some judges favouring an approach which stretches existing ...
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Do we need a law of privacy? Drawing a line between justified and unjustified intrusion places great stresses on our legal traditions with some judges favouring an approach which stretches existing laws to grant relief to deserving victims, whilst other judges feel that it would be more honest to simply recognize privacy as a new human right. The latter approach creates further problems: should it be up to Parliament alone to create such a right? What about free speech? Do the newspapers and the public not have rights too? Newspapers are not allowed to identify Thompson and Venables, the young men who murdered two-year-old James Bulger, because their lives would be in danger. Nobody may identify Mary Bell, who also killed when she was a child, even though there was no such risk. Will paedophiles be the next to demand lifelong anonymity? This book explores how the English legal system has had to blend old laws on confidentiality with modern human rights law in order to deal with these problematic issues. Written for non-specialists by one of Britain's best known legal journalists, this book provides a uniquely accessible guide to the legal aspects of this public debate.Less
Do we need a law of privacy? Drawing a line between justified and unjustified intrusion places great stresses on our legal traditions with some judges favouring an approach which stretches existing laws to grant relief to deserving victims, whilst other judges feel that it would be more honest to simply recognize privacy as a new human right. The latter approach creates further problems: should it be up to Parliament alone to create such a right? What about free speech? Do the newspapers and the public not have rights too? Newspapers are not allowed to identify Thompson and Venables, the young men who murdered two-year-old James Bulger, because their lives would be in danger. Nobody may identify Mary Bell, who also killed when she was a child, even though there was no such risk. Will paedophiles be the next to demand lifelong anonymity? This book explores how the English legal system has had to blend old laws on confidentiality with modern human rights law in order to deal with these problematic issues. Written for non-specialists by one of Britain's best known legal journalists, this book provides a uniquely accessible guide to the legal aspects of this public debate.
Hans H. Penner
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195385823
- eISBN:
- 9780199870073
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385823.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter details Buddha' meeting with the murderer, Angulimala, who after hearing the Doctrine spoken by the Buddha vowed to abstain from violence forever and became a monk. It describes Buddha's ...
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This chapter details Buddha' meeting with the murderer, Angulimala, who after hearing the Doctrine spoken by the Buddha vowed to abstain from violence forever and became a monk. It describes Buddha's visit to his father, Suddhodana, who was very ill and near death. It also describes Buddha's flight beyond the triple world to Tushita, the heavenly abode of his mother.Less
This chapter details Buddha' meeting with the murderer, Angulimala, who after hearing the Doctrine spoken by the Buddha vowed to abstain from violence forever and became a monk. It describes Buddha's visit to his father, Suddhodana, who was very ill and near death. It also describes Buddha's flight beyond the triple world to Tushita, the heavenly abode of his mother.
Seana Valentine Shiffrin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157023
- eISBN:
- 9781400852529
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157023.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
To understand one another as individuals and to fulfill the moral duties that require such understanding, we must communicate with each other. We must also maintain protected channels that render ...
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To understand one another as individuals and to fulfill the moral duties that require such understanding, we must communicate with each other. We must also maintain protected channels that render reliable communication possible, a demand that, this book argues, yields a prohibition against lying and requires protection for freedom of speech. The book makes a distinctive philosophical argument for the wrong of the lie and provides an original account of its difference from the wrong of deception. Drawing on legal as well as philosophical arguments, it defends a series of notable claims—that you may not lie about everything to the “Murderer at the Door,” that you have reasons to keep promises offered under duress, that lies are not protected by free speech, that police subvert their mission when they lie to suspects, and that scholars undermine their goals when they lie to research subjects. Many philosophers start to craft moral exceptions to demands for sincerity and fidelity when they confront wrongdoers, the pressures of non-ideal circumstances, or the achievement of morally substantial ends. The book consistently resists this sort of exceptionalism, arguing that maintaining a strong basis for trust and reliable communication through practices of sincerity, fidelity, and respecting free speech is an essential aspect of ensuring the conditions for moral progress, including our rehabilitation of and moral reconciliation with wrongdoers.Less
To understand one another as individuals and to fulfill the moral duties that require such understanding, we must communicate with each other. We must also maintain protected channels that render reliable communication possible, a demand that, this book argues, yields a prohibition against lying and requires protection for freedom of speech. The book makes a distinctive philosophical argument for the wrong of the lie and provides an original account of its difference from the wrong of deception. Drawing on legal as well as philosophical arguments, it defends a series of notable claims—that you may not lie about everything to the “Murderer at the Door,” that you have reasons to keep promises offered under duress, that lies are not protected by free speech, that police subvert their mission when they lie to suspects, and that scholars undermine their goals when they lie to research subjects. Many philosophers start to craft moral exceptions to demands for sincerity and fidelity when they confront wrongdoers, the pressures of non-ideal circumstances, or the achievement of morally substantial ends. The book consistently resists this sort of exceptionalism, arguing that maintaining a strong basis for trust and reliable communication through practices of sincerity, fidelity, and respecting free speech is an essential aspect of ensuring the conditions for moral progress, including our rehabilitation of and moral reconciliation with wrongdoers.
Seana Valentine Shiffrin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157023
- eISBN:
- 9781400852529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157023.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book explores the relationship between discursive communication and moral agency, with the goal of unifying a variety of issues about communicative ethics, including issues about lying, ...
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This book explores the relationship between discursive communication and moral agency, with the goal of unifying a variety of issues about communicative ethics, including issues about lying, promissory fidelity, and freedom of speech. It argues that keener attention to the moral significance of communication would illuminate both the justificatory foundations of the prohibition against lying as well as the moral and legal prohibition against curtailing freedom of speech. Both prohibitions serve as moral protections of the reliability of communication and thereby preserve the conditions for moral agency, moral connection, and moral progress. The book defends a qualified absolutism about lying that distinguishes the wrong of the lie from the wrong involved in deception. It also examines whether, how, and why it should matter that one's interlocutor is a moral criminal, the infamous Murderer at the Door. Finally, it tackles the question of whether promises made under duress have moral force.Less
This book explores the relationship between discursive communication and moral agency, with the goal of unifying a variety of issues about communicative ethics, including issues about lying, promissory fidelity, and freedom of speech. It argues that keener attention to the moral significance of communication would illuminate both the justificatory foundations of the prohibition against lying as well as the moral and legal prohibition against curtailing freedom of speech. Both prohibitions serve as moral protections of the reliability of communication and thereby preserve the conditions for moral agency, moral connection, and moral progress. The book defends a qualified absolutism about lying that distinguishes the wrong of the lie from the wrong involved in deception. It also examines whether, how, and why it should matter that one's interlocutor is a moral criminal, the infamous Murderer at the Door. Finally, it tackles the question of whether promises made under duress have moral force.
Yoram Gorlizki and Oleg V. Khlevniuk
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195165814
- eISBN:
- 9780199788811
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195165814.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter shows how, despite his frailties, Stalin used the XIX Party Congress as a means of exercising his dominance over the party by, among other things, restructuring “offices” and reassigning ...
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This chapter shows how, despite his frailties, Stalin used the XIX Party Congress as a means of exercising his dominance over the party by, among other things, restructuring “offices” and reassigning his colleagues' duties. It argues that Stalin's final offensive against Molotov and Mikoian starting in October 1952 was part of a rational bid on his part to stave off any thoughts of a succession. The attack on his Politburo colleagues was accompanied by a final lunge at a group of Jewish “doctor-murderers”.Less
This chapter shows how, despite his frailties, Stalin used the XIX Party Congress as a means of exercising his dominance over the party by, among other things, restructuring “offices” and reassigning his colleagues' duties. It argues that Stalin's final offensive against Molotov and Mikoian starting in October 1952 was part of a rational bid on his part to stave off any thoughts of a succession. The attack on his Politburo colleagues was accompanied by a final lunge at a group of Jewish “doctor-murderers”.
Lord Denning
- Published in print:
- 1980
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780406176080
- eISBN:
- 9780191705113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780406176080.003.0016
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
This part of the book discusses arrest and search in detail. The freedom of the just man is worth little to him if he can be preyed upon by the murderer or the thief. Every society must have means to ...
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This part of the book discusses arrest and search in detail. The freedom of the just man is worth little to him if he can be preyed upon by the murderer or the thief. Every society must have means to protect itself from marauders. It also must have powers to arrest, to search, and to imprison those who break its laws. So long as those powers are properly exercised, they are the safeguards of freedom. But powers may be abused, and if those powers are abused, there is no tyranny like them. This account has been divided into various chapters namely: making an arrest, making a search, and new procedures. Each chapter considers a different facet of the single diamond.Less
This part of the book discusses arrest and search in detail. The freedom of the just man is worth little to him if he can be preyed upon by the murderer or the thief. Every society must have means to protect itself from marauders. It also must have powers to arrest, to search, and to imprison those who break its laws. So long as those powers are properly exercised, they are the safeguards of freedom. But powers may be abused, and if those powers are abused, there is no tyranny like them. This account has been divided into various chapters namely: making an arrest, making a search, and new procedures. Each chapter considers a different facet of the single diamond.
Martin Wiggins
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112280
- eISBN:
- 9780191670749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112280.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Since time immemorial, the rich and powerful have used others to do their killing. Sixteenth-century Europe was no exception. It was in Spain and Italy that the hiring of assassins was most ...
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Since time immemorial, the rich and powerful have used others to do their killing. Sixteenth-century Europe was no exception. It was in Spain and Italy that the hiring of assassins was most established, and where such men were able to escape justice because even without the sanction of law there was still the sanction of tradition, evident in the almost blasé tones in which the hiring of murderers was sometimes discussed. Assassins were not regarded as a peculiarly un-English type of criminal; England was a violent society, and there was no need to invoke foreign influence to account for paid assassinations. It was not only the upper classes who employed other men to kill for them; a number of middle-class property disputes and sexual disagreements escalated to murder by a hired third party. Rightly or wrongly, the hired assassin had a high public profile in the later sixteenth century. In the prose fiction of the time, however, such characters, when they appear, receive somewhat exiguous treatment.Less
Since time immemorial, the rich and powerful have used others to do their killing. Sixteenth-century Europe was no exception. It was in Spain and Italy that the hiring of assassins was most established, and where such men were able to escape justice because even without the sanction of law there was still the sanction of tradition, evident in the almost blasé tones in which the hiring of murderers was sometimes discussed. Assassins were not regarded as a peculiarly un-English type of criminal; England was a violent society, and there was no need to invoke foreign influence to account for paid assassinations. It was not only the upper classes who employed other men to kill for them; a number of middle-class property disputes and sexual disagreements escalated to murder by a hired third party. Rightly or wrongly, the hired assassin had a high public profile in the later sixteenth century. In the prose fiction of the time, however, such characters, when they appear, receive somewhat exiguous treatment.
Martin Wiggins
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112280
- eISBN:
- 9780191670749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112280.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
The early history of the assassin in Elizabethan drama can be traced to Thomas Preston's tyrant-play Cambises (c.1561), which includes two episodes in which the protagonist employs a pair of killers, ...
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The early history of the assassin in Elizabethan drama can be traced to Thomas Preston's tyrant-play Cambises (c.1561), which includes two episodes in which the protagonist employs a pair of killers, identified allegorically as Murder and Cruelty. The problem of lost plays makes it hard to trace the character's development thereafter: his next known appearance on the public stage was in Anthony Munday's Fedele and Fortunio (1583–1584), and then in Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy (1587). There are also hired murderers in two academic plays dating from the intervening quarter-century: the Inner Temple's Gismond of Salerne (1563) and the third play in Dr Thomas Legge's Latin trilogy Richardus Tertius, performed at St John's College, Cambridge in March 1580. By 1592, the assassin had become an established figure in the repertory, if he was not one already. Preston found no assassins in his principal narrative source, Richard Taverner's The Garden of Wisdom (1539). What he found was the same sort of elliptical expression we have already encountered in prose fiction.Less
The early history of the assassin in Elizabethan drama can be traced to Thomas Preston's tyrant-play Cambises (c.1561), which includes two episodes in which the protagonist employs a pair of killers, identified allegorically as Murder and Cruelty. The problem of lost plays makes it hard to trace the character's development thereafter: his next known appearance on the public stage was in Anthony Munday's Fedele and Fortunio (1583–1584), and then in Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy (1587). There are also hired murderers in two academic plays dating from the intervening quarter-century: the Inner Temple's Gismond of Salerne (1563) and the third play in Dr Thomas Legge's Latin trilogy Richardus Tertius, performed at St John's College, Cambridge in March 1580. By 1592, the assassin had become an established figure in the repertory, if he was not one already. Preston found no assassins in his principal narrative source, Richard Taverner's The Garden of Wisdom (1539). What he found was the same sort of elliptical expression we have already encountered in prose fiction.
Martin Wiggins
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112280
- eISBN:
- 9780191670749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112280.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
It follows from the circumstances of the assassin's birth into English drama, delivered out of the indirect language of prose sources, that, early on, his role was a secondary one. He has the ...
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It follows from the circumstances of the assassin's birth into English drama, delivered out of the indirect language of prose sources, that, early on, his role was a secondary one. He has the function of an instrument in the schemes of a more important figure, who is usually either protagonist or antagonist in the play; his appearances tend to be confined to one or more episodes, and he does not initiate action himself, The role is, in short, a bit-part. One way of demonstrating this is to consider the typical length of an assassin's role. During the period 1587–1592, a leading male part could run to anything between 550 and 800 lines; a leading female role, between 200 and 350 lines. In contrast, most assassins' parts are tiny: Tremelio in Mucedorus speaks eleven lines, the two murderers in Henry VI, Part 2 have seven between them, and Abraham in Selimus has twenty-two. There are in fact three plays of this period which give assassins moderately large parts: King Leir, Arden of Faversham, and King John.Less
It follows from the circumstances of the assassin's birth into English drama, delivered out of the indirect language of prose sources, that, early on, his role was a secondary one. He has the function of an instrument in the schemes of a more important figure, who is usually either protagonist or antagonist in the play; his appearances tend to be confined to one or more episodes, and he does not initiate action himself, The role is, in short, a bit-part. One way of demonstrating this is to consider the typical length of an assassin's role. During the period 1587–1592, a leading male part could run to anything between 550 and 800 lines; a leading female role, between 200 and 350 lines. In contrast, most assassins' parts are tiny: Tremelio in Mucedorus speaks eleven lines, the two murderers in Henry VI, Part 2 have seven between them, and Abraham in Selimus has twenty-two. There are in fact three plays of this period which give assassins moderately large parts: King Leir, Arden of Faversham, and King John.
Martin Wiggins
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112280
- eISBN:
- 9780191670749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112280.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
One of the concerns which the stage assassin focused, from Cambises onwards, was tyranny. According to many humanist thinkers, the principal bulwarks against tyranny were a good education and good ...
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One of the concerns which the stage assassin focused, from Cambises onwards, was tyranny. According to many humanist thinkers, the principal bulwarks against tyranny were a good education and good advice. Conversely, the thing most likely to corrupt a prince was flattery, ‘the Nurse of Tyrants’. It was easier to blame the flatterer than the prince for the latter's tyrannical behaviour, for in English law the monarch could do no wrong; critics of Queen Elizabeth's regime pointed accusing fingers at her ministers, never at the Queen herself. These are factors which underlie Robert Greene's portrait of the making of a tyrant in James IV. In several plays, the tyrant's assassins are juxtaposed with the legitimate instruments of royal power. William Shakespeare returned to the question of tyrants and murderers in his later plays, as part of a wider consideration of the theme of service.Less
One of the concerns which the stage assassin focused, from Cambises onwards, was tyranny. According to many humanist thinkers, the principal bulwarks against tyranny were a good education and good advice. Conversely, the thing most likely to corrupt a prince was flattery, ‘the Nurse of Tyrants’. It was easier to blame the flatterer than the prince for the latter's tyrannical behaviour, for in English law the monarch could do no wrong; critics of Queen Elizabeth's regime pointed accusing fingers at her ministers, never at the Queen herself. These are factors which underlie Robert Greene's portrait of the making of a tyrant in James IV. In several plays, the tyrant's assassins are juxtaposed with the legitimate instruments of royal power. William Shakespeare returned to the question of tyrants and murderers in his later plays, as part of a wider consideration of the theme of service.
Martin Wiggins
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112280
- eISBN:
- 9780191670749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112280.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
In the period of nearly three decades between The Duchess of Malfi and the closure of the theatres in 1642, only one play made important and original use of the assassin: Thomas Middleton and William ...
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In the period of nearly three decades between The Duchess of Malfi and the closure of the theatres in 1642, only one play made important and original use of the assassin: Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's The Changeling. It is a treatment very different from John Webster's. Beatrice and De Flores who are, if anything, even more central than Flamineo and Bosola: the murder of Beatrice's fiancé Piracquo is the subject of the play. But whereas Webster was interested in the human experience of being a hired murderer, this play deals with the situation of using one. There are only a few other substantial treatments of the assassin from the late Jacobean and Caroline period: Philip Massinger's The Duke of Milan and John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. A number of plays recycled aspects of the characters of Webster's assassins. The gradual exclusion of hired murderers from these plays offers a context with which to best understand the decline of the stage assassin in the 1620s and 1630s.Less
In the period of nearly three decades between The Duchess of Malfi and the closure of the theatres in 1642, only one play made important and original use of the assassin: Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's The Changeling. It is a treatment very different from John Webster's. Beatrice and De Flores who are, if anything, even more central than Flamineo and Bosola: the murder of Beatrice's fiancé Piracquo is the subject of the play. But whereas Webster was interested in the human experience of being a hired murderer, this play deals with the situation of using one. There are only a few other substantial treatments of the assassin from the late Jacobean and Caroline period: Philip Massinger's The Duke of Milan and John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. A number of plays recycled aspects of the characters of Webster's assassins. The gradual exclusion of hired murderers from these plays offers a context with which to best understand the decline of the stage assassin in the 1620s and 1630s.
Thomas L. Carson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199577415
- eISBN:
- 9780191722813
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577415.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, General
In several works, Kant claims that lying is always wrong, no matter what. He is probably the most well‐known defender of an absolute prohibition against lying in the history of Western philosophy. ...
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In several works, Kant claims that lying is always wrong, no matter what. He is probably the most well‐known defender of an absolute prohibition against lying in the history of Western philosophy. The chapter surveys what Kant says about lying in his writings. It is noteworthy that he never directly appeals to the categorical imperative in any of his arguments to show that lying is always wrong. The chapter argues that the universal law version of the categorical imperative does not imply that lying is always wrong – one can consistently will that everyone follows maxims or principles that sometimes permit lying. Korsgaard to the contrary, the second version of the categorical imperative, which says that we should never treat another person as a mere means, does not imply that lying is never permissible. The chapter contends that Korsgaard's arguments rest on contentious interpretations of several ambiguous passages in Kant. None of the versions of the categorical imperative commits Kant to an absolute prohibition against lying. Not only does Kant fail to give a compelling argument for an absolute prohibition against lying, there are positive reasons to reject his absolutism. The duty not to lie can conflict with other moral duties. If lying is always wrong no matter what, then the duty not to lie must always be more important than any conflicting duty. However, it is most implausible to hold that the duty not to lie is always more important than any conflicting duty. Kant's own example of lying to thwart the plans of a would‐be murderer is one of the best illustrations of this.Less
In several works, Kant claims that lying is always wrong, no matter what. He is probably the most well‐known defender of an absolute prohibition against lying in the history of Western philosophy. The chapter surveys what Kant says about lying in his writings. It is noteworthy that he never directly appeals to the categorical imperative in any of his arguments to show that lying is always wrong. The chapter argues that the universal law version of the categorical imperative does not imply that lying is always wrong – one can consistently will that everyone follows maxims or principles that sometimes permit lying. Korsgaard to the contrary, the second version of the categorical imperative, which says that we should never treat another person as a mere means, does not imply that lying is never permissible. The chapter contends that Korsgaard's arguments rest on contentious interpretations of several ambiguous passages in Kant. None of the versions of the categorical imperative commits Kant to an absolute prohibition against lying. Not only does Kant fail to give a compelling argument for an absolute prohibition against lying, there are positive reasons to reject his absolutism. The duty not to lie can conflict with other moral duties. If lying is always wrong no matter what, then the duty not to lie must always be more important than any conflicting duty. However, it is most implausible to hold that the duty not to lie is always more important than any conflicting duty. Kant's own example of lying to thwart the plans of a would‐be murderer is one of the best illustrations of this.
Seana Valentine Shiffrin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157023
- eISBN:
- 9781400852529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157023.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter considers some issues about our individual duties of sincerity and promissory fidelity, with particular emphasis on the role the stricture on lying plays in maintaining reliable channels ...
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This chapter considers some issues about our individual duties of sincerity and promissory fidelity, with particular emphasis on the role the stricture on lying plays in maintaining reliable channels of communication between moral agents. It defends a qualified absolutism about lying that distinguishes the wrong of the lie from the wrong involved in deception (when it is wrong). In particular, it examines Immanuel Kant's absolutism about lying, building upon the themes Kant adduces in the opening passage of the selection from the Lectures on Ethics. It also explores the problem of the Murderer at the Door and connects it to other issues about our moral relations with wrongdoers and the process of their moral evolution. Finally, it looks at the active, affimative misrepresentation that one is telling the truth rather than operating in a suspended context and relates it to the basic conditions of interpersonal moral agency.Less
This chapter considers some issues about our individual duties of sincerity and promissory fidelity, with particular emphasis on the role the stricture on lying plays in maintaining reliable channels of communication between moral agents. It defends a qualified absolutism about lying that distinguishes the wrong of the lie from the wrong involved in deception (when it is wrong). In particular, it examines Immanuel Kant's absolutism about lying, building upon the themes Kant adduces in the opening passage of the selection from the Lectures on Ethics. It also explores the problem of the Murderer at the Door and connects it to other issues about our moral relations with wrongdoers and the process of their moral evolution. Finally, it looks at the active, affimative misrepresentation that one is telling the truth rather than operating in a suspended context and relates it to the basic conditions of interpersonal moral agency.
Roberto Curti and Roberto Curti
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325932
- eISBN:
- 9781800342538
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325932.003.0007
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter describes how the murderer in the film Blood and Black Lace (6 donne per l'assassino) became an icon through its clothing, which included a raincoat, hat, and black gloves. It explains ...
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This chapter describes how the murderer in the film Blood and Black Lace (6 donne per l'assassino) became an icon through its clothing, which included a raincoat, hat, and black gloves. It explains how the outfit of the murderer in the film, like a haute couture model, will be copied over and over in forthcoming gialli. The chapter analyzes the multiple literary and filmic influences identified in Mario Bava's faceless murderer and Edgar Wallace's novel White Face to the German krimis. It mentions faceless figures that populate Man Ray's surrealist short film Les Mystères du château de Dé in 1929, which was considered the most outstanding and surprising predecessors on iconic images of murderers. It also analyzes how masked murderers in films are more than a gimmick to hide the identity but emphasizes an almost feral attribute due to its muteness.Less
This chapter describes how the murderer in the film Blood and Black Lace (6 donne per l'assassino) became an icon through its clothing, which included a raincoat, hat, and black gloves. It explains how the outfit of the murderer in the film, like a haute couture model, will be copied over and over in forthcoming gialli. The chapter analyzes the multiple literary and filmic influences identified in Mario Bava's faceless murderer and Edgar Wallace's novel White Face to the German krimis. It mentions faceless figures that populate Man Ray's surrealist short film Les Mystères du château de Dé in 1929, which was considered the most outstanding and surprising predecessors on iconic images of murderers. It also analyzes how masked murderers in films are more than a gimmick to hide the identity but emphasizes an almost feral attribute due to its muteness.
Lotte Hoek
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231162890
- eISBN:
- 9780231535151
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231162890.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book explores the shadowy world of the short, pornographic cut-piece clips that appear in some films in Bangladesh and examines their place in South Asian film culture. It provides a portrait of ...
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This book explores the shadowy world of the short, pornographic cut-piece clips that appear in some films in Bangladesh and examines their place in South Asian film culture. It provides a portrait of the production, consumption and cinematic pleasures of stray celluloid and shines a light on Bangladesh's state-owned film industry and popular practices of the obscene. It explains that a cut-piece is a strip of locally made celluloid pornography surreptitiously spliced into the reels of action films in Bangladesh. To explain this phenomenon, it follows the making and reception of Mintu the Murderer (2005), a popular, Bangladeshi B-quality action movie which is an embodiment of the cut-piece phenomenon. It traces the making of the movie from the early scriptwriting phase through to multiple screenings in remote Bangladeshi cinema halls. It follows the cut-pieces as they appear and disappear from the film, and shows how they destabilize its form, generate controversy and titillate audiences. The book also reframes conceptual approaches to South Asian cinema and film culture, drawing on media anthropology to decode the cultural contradictions of Bangladesh since the 1990s.Less
This book explores the shadowy world of the short, pornographic cut-piece clips that appear in some films in Bangladesh and examines their place in South Asian film culture. It provides a portrait of the production, consumption and cinematic pleasures of stray celluloid and shines a light on Bangladesh's state-owned film industry and popular practices of the obscene. It explains that a cut-piece is a strip of locally made celluloid pornography surreptitiously spliced into the reels of action films in Bangladesh. To explain this phenomenon, it follows the making and reception of Mintu the Murderer (2005), a popular, Bangladeshi B-quality action movie which is an embodiment of the cut-piece phenomenon. It traces the making of the movie from the early scriptwriting phase through to multiple screenings in remote Bangladeshi cinema halls. It follows the cut-pieces as they appear and disappear from the film, and shows how they destabilize its form, generate controversy and titillate audiences. The book also reframes conceptual approaches to South Asian cinema and film culture, drawing on media anthropology to decode the cultural contradictions of Bangladesh since the 1990s.
Elizabeth Yardley and David Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781447326458
- eISBN:
- 9781447327639
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447326458.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter presents the findings of the analysis in relation to Mary Ann Cotton’s social roles and the institutional domain in which these roles were situated. For example, in relation to the ...
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This chapter presents the findings of the analysis in relation to Mary Ann Cotton’s social roles and the institutional domain in which these roles were situated. For example, in relation to the institution of the family, her roles as a wife and mother are explored and in relation to the economy, her role as a worker is analysed. All social roles and institutions are analysed within the relevant social context of nineteenth century north-east England.Less
This chapter presents the findings of the analysis in relation to Mary Ann Cotton’s social roles and the institutional domain in which these roles were situated. For example, in relation to the institution of the family, her roles as a wife and mother are explored and in relation to the economy, her role as a worker is analysed. All social roles and institutions are analysed within the relevant social context of nineteenth century north-east England.
Martha Huggins, Mika Haritos-Fatouros, and Philip Zimbardo
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520234468
- eISBN:
- 9780520928916
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520234468.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Latin American Cultural Anthropology
Of the twenty-three Brazilian policemen interviewed in depth for this study, fourteen were direct perpetrators of torture and murder during the three decades that included the 1964–1985 military ...
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Of the twenty-three Brazilian policemen interviewed in depth for this study, fourteen were direct perpetrators of torture and murder during the three decades that included the 1964–1985 military regime. These “violence workers” and the other group of “atrocity facilitators” who had not, or claimed they had not, participated directly in the violence, help answer questions that haunt today's world: Why and how are ordinary men transformed into state torturers and murderers? How do atrocity perpetrators explain and justify their violence? What is the impact of their murderous deeds—on them, on their victims, and on society? What memories of their atrocities do they admit and which become public history?Less
Of the twenty-three Brazilian policemen interviewed in depth for this study, fourteen were direct perpetrators of torture and murder during the three decades that included the 1964–1985 military regime. These “violence workers” and the other group of “atrocity facilitators” who had not, or claimed they had not, participated directly in the violence, help answer questions that haunt today's world: Why and how are ordinary men transformed into state torturers and murderers? How do atrocity perpetrators explain and justify their violence? What is the impact of their murderous deeds—on them, on their victims, and on society? What memories of their atrocities do they admit and which become public history?
Martha K. Hugginsv, Mika Haritos-Fatouros, and Philip G. Zimbardo
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520234468
- eISBN:
- 9780520928916
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520234468.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Latin American Cultural Anthropology
This chapter describes the lives of four emblematic police torturers and murderers in Brazil during crucial periods in the thirty years from 1957 to 1987, explaining that each violent life represents ...
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This chapter describes the lives of four emblematic police torturers and murderers in Brazil during crucial periods in the thirty years from 1957 to 1987, explaining that each violent life represents a different generation of police work, with two among the four from the military government generation. It provides a documentary picture of some of the men who carried out atrocities in Brazil over a thirty-five-year period and explains how these violence workers manage the secrecy of their atrocities.Less
This chapter describes the lives of four emblematic police torturers and murderers in Brazil during crucial periods in the thirty years from 1957 to 1987, explaining that each violent life represents a different generation of police work, with two among the four from the military government generation. It provides a documentary picture of some of the men who carried out atrocities in Brazil over a thirty-five-year period and explains how these violence workers manage the secrecy of their atrocities.