Friday, February 27, 2015

The Best Interests of the Child: The Least Detrimental Alternative

Joseph Goldstein, Albert J. Solnit, Sonja Goldstein & Anna Freud (Yale University). The Best Interests of the Child (Free Press, 1996 edition).

"The authors speak in one voice in concluding that the continuity of care--continuity of a child's relationship with his or her adult caregiver--is a universal essential to the child's well-being. To this end, they stress that minimizing intrusions by the law is paramount to safeguarding the child's growth and development. 'The least detrimental alternative'--the authors' overarching guideline for assuring the continuity of the psychological parent-child relationship--has been cited in more than a thousand child custody cases since 1973."
Book jacket


Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Art, Cultural Heritage and the Market: Ethical and Legal Issues

Valentina Vadi & Hildegard E.G.S. Schneider (Maastricht University) (eds.). Art, Cultural Heritage and the Market (Springer, 2014).

"Contemporary intersections between art, cultural heritage and the market are complicated by a variety of ethical and legal issues, which often describe complex global relations. Should works of art be treated differently from other goods? What happens if a work of art, currently exhibited in a museum, turns out to have originally been looted? What is the relevant legal framework? What should be done with ancient shipwrecks filled with objects from former colonies? Should such objects be kept by the finders? Should they be returned to the country of origin? This book addresses these different questions while highlighting the complex interplay between legal and ethical issues in the context of cultural governance. The approach is mainly legal but interdisciplinary aspects are considered as well."
From publisher's website


Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Ages of American Law (2nd Edition)

Grant Gilmore (Yale Law School). The Ages of American Law (Yale University Press, 2nd ed. 2014).

"Following its publication in 1977, Grant Gilmore's compact portrait of the development of American law from the eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century became a classic. In this new edition, the portrait is brought up to date with a new chapter by Philip Bobbitt that surveys the trajectory of American law since the original publication of Gilmore's masterpiece. Bobbitt also provides a Foreword on Gilmore and the celebrated lectures that inspired The Ages of American Law." 
 From book jacket

Friday, February 13, 2015

The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence

Keith Frankish (University of Crete) & William M. Ramsey (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) (eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

"Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding, modeling, and creating intelligence of various forms. . . . AI applications are transforming the way we interact with each other and with our environment, and work in artificially modeling intelligence is offering new insights into the human mind and revealing new forms mentality can take. This volume of original essays presents the state of the art in AI, surveying the foundations of the discipline, major theories of mental architecture, the principal areas of research, and extensions of AI such as artificial life. With a focus on theory rather than technical and applied issues, the volume will be valuable not only to people working in AI, but also to those in other disciplines wanting an authoritative and up-to-date introduction to the field."
Publisher's website


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Natural Human Rights: A Theory

Michael Boylan (Marymount University). Natural Human Rights: A Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

"This timely book by internationally regarded scholar of ethics and social/political philosophy Michael Boylan focuses on the history, application, and significance of human rights in the West and in China. Boylan engages the key current philosophical debates prevalent in human rights discourse today and draws them together to argue for the existence of natural, universal human rights. Arguing against the grain of mainstream philosophical beliefs, Boylan asserts that there is continuity between human rights and natural law and that human beings require basic, essential goods for minimum action. . . . Using the classroom-tested dynamic approach of combining technical argument with four fictional narratives about human rights, the book invites readers to engage with the most important aspects of the discipline."
Publisher's website

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Policing Sexuality: The Mann Act and the Making of the FBI

Jessica R. Pliley (Texas State University). Policing Sexuality (Harvard University Press, 2014).

"Policing Sexuality links the crusade against sex trafficking to the rapid growth of the Bureau from a few dozen agents at the time of the Mann Act into a formidable law enforcement organization that cooperated with state and municipal authorities across the nation. In pursuit of offenders, the Bureau often intervened in domestic squabbles on behalf of men intent on monitoring their wives and daughters. Working prostitutes were imprisoned at dramatically increased rates, while their male clients were seldom prosecuted."
Publisher's website