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General & Miscellaneous Law, Social Sciences - General & Miscellaneous, Political Theory & Ideology, Courts & Trial Practice, Legal Theory & Philosophy
On Trial by George Anastaplo β€” book cover

On Trial

by George Anastaplo
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Overview

On Trial is an exegesis on legal reason, moral judgment, political life, and the events that give them meaning. Beginning with the serpent in the Garden of Eden and ending with O. J. Simpson, esteemed thinker George Anastaplo offers students, scholars, and informed readers an exploration of justice and the rule of law through well-known trials ancient and modern, real and fictional. Anastaplo starts with an interrogation of the good common sense on which most of us draw to make successful judgments. He examines the nurturing of this faculty against rationality, moral obligation, and the contingencies of history and culture. Using classic literary sources as well as real trial histories, On Trial puts legal and moral reason squarely beneath the critical lens.

Synopsis

Beginning with the serpent in the Garden of Eden and ending with O.J. Simpson, author George Anastaplo offers an exploration of justice and the rule of law through well-known trials both ancient and modern, real and fictional. On Trial is a detailed and fascinating discussion of legal reason, moral judgment, political life, and the events that give them meaning.

About the Author, George Anastaplo

George Anastaplo, author of numerous books, teaches at the University of Chicago, Loyola University, and Dominican University.

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Editorials

John Van Doren

In this volume, as in many others that he has written, George Anastaplo does what readers familiar with him take for granted, knowing how often he has done it and forgetting what a rare thing it is. Who else would discuss the trials of great figures in literature an historyβ€”as if they were, or had been, equally real, and subject them to a critical examination which assumes that the issues raised by them had not only been out common business as human beings to confront from the beginning, but still are? That is what Mr. Anastaplo does here, with a seriousness that challenges the intellect and imagination we all possess, and will not allow us to claim either the poet's license or the vanished past as reasons to escpe the task of unerstanding, the risk of judgment's call.

Chris Colmo

On Trial is a delight to read, at once surprising, challenging, and entertaining. The book reveals its true treasures to the reader who begins to ask, "Who or what is on trial here? Is it O.J.? Or Shylock? Or God?" Anastaplo's interrogation of the witnesses is as profound as it is playful and enchanting.

CHOICE

This is a readable, scholarly work. Recommended.

John A. Murley

On Trial invites and deserves, and will reward, careful reading.

Book Details

Published
August 1, 2004
Publisher
Lexington Books
Pages
520
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780739107805

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