Responsibility.

London : Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1970. First edition. Orig. cloth binding. Dustjacket. x,204,[11] pp. (International library of philosophy and scientific method). Dustjacket sl. rubbed. Owners stamp on title-page. From the publisher : Responsibility is a contribution to two discussions that have often been kept separate. It puts forward arguinents rel- evant both to the traditional philosophical problem of free will and to current debates about the criminal responsibility of the mentally ill. The author argues that the determinist claim that all human behaviour is governed by causal laws is an intelligible empirical thesis that may well be true. He criticizes as incomplete some traditional attempts to reconcile determinism with common moral attitudes. Mr Glover points out that, to show that our beliefs about responsibility are compatible with determinism, it is desirable to demonstrate that, in a determinist world, blame and punishment could be fair as well as use- ful. It is also necessary to state more clearly where the boundaries of respons- ibility are to be drawn, especially in the context of mental illness. Various pleas that are held to excuse people from responsibility are examined and classified, and there is a discussion of the moral and penal principles that can be used to justify the acceptance of certain kinds of excuse. The concept of mental illness is examined, and its relevance to responsibility is discussed. Mr Glover presents some criteria of responsibility that are not undermined by determinism, and finally he examines, and rejects, several common attempts at evasion of moral responsibility. Jonathan Glover is director of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics at King's College, London. Condition : very good copy. ISBN 9780710068798. Keywords : PHILOSOPHY, philosophy of law *2006-100 philosophy.