Thom Brooks is Professor of Law & Government at Durham Law School (Dean 2016-2021) and Associate Member of Durham University's Philosophy Department & School of Government & International Affairs. He has been a visitor at the universities of Chicago, Columbia, NYU, Oxford, Penn, St Andrews, Uppsala and Yale and currently Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London. Brooks sits on the Fabian Society committee and Labour Party member. Supervisors: Robert Stern and Leif Wenar Phone: +44 (0)191 334 4365 Address: Durham Law School
Palatine Centre
Stockton Road
Durham, DH1 3LE
United Kingdom
The steep rise in small boat crossings across the English Channel is deeply worrying. Ever more l... more The steep rise in small boat crossings across the English Channel is deeply worrying. Ever more lives are put at risk in making the 21-mile journey. Human trafficking gangs trade in human misery. The UK’s asylum system is put under additional strain and at ever higher cost to taxpayers. The public has lost trust in the Government to put this right. In order to address the problem, we must understand it and grasp its underlying causes. A key issue is that the Government did not see the problem of small boat crossings as a consequence of its policy failures, most notably its failure to secure a post-Brexit returns arrangement with the EU. An effective plan to deal with small boat crossings is urgently needed to win back public confidence, to save lives, to improve our asylum system and help put illegal human traffickers out of business. This Report is an attempt to outline such a plan with over a dozen recommendations.
The UK’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis was shockingly slow and inadequate. While Europea... more The UK’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis was shockingly slow and inadequate. While European Union members opened their doors to millions of refugees, the UK government dithered and delayed. Its response lacked both competence and compassion. But asylum is only one area where the government is getting it wrong on immigration.
In this pamphlet, Thom Brooks sets out a new immigration plan for Labour. It is a plan rooted in the Labour values of compassion and fairness. It offers the opportunity to create a fit for purpose immigration system to deal with one of the greatest challenges of our time.
How many questions could you answer in a pub quiz about British values?
Designed to ensure new m... more How many questions could you answer in a pub quiz about British values?
Designed to ensure new migrants have accepted British values and integrated, the UK's citizenship test is often portrayed as a bad pub quiz with answers few citizens know. With the launch of a new post-Brexit immigration system, this is a critical time to change the test.
Thom Brooks draws on first-hand experience of taking the test, and interviews with key figures including past Home Secretaries, to expose the test as ineffective and a barrier to citizenship. This accessible guide offers recommendations for transforming the citizenship test into a ‘bridge to citizenship’ which fosters greater inclusion and integration.
Trust is essential for our democracy. We trust our political leaders and institutions to put the ... more Trust is essential for our democracy. We trust our political leaders and institutions to put the public interest before their personal or partisan advantage. We trust each other to work and live together. No system is perfect and there is rarely one right answer to the big challenges faced, but we expect leaders to be honest, competent and compassionate – and punish any breaches harshly in the polls or the ballot box. But not any longer. Now is a time of political crisis that’s fuelled by a lack of trust in government and the mainstream. This carries significant and damaging consequences for the future of our democracy fragmenting and polarising our communities. While election results from Brexit to Trump shocked political pundits on both sides of the Atlantic, the roots of an alienated and divided public who increasingly do not trust public figures to put the public interest first have root causes that run deep. The absence of trust creates a political shift akin to a new kind of revolution putting at risk our democracy’s future health. Awareness and action have never been needed more urgently. For over two decades, Thom Brooks has been a leading voice in exposing this crisis in trust and challenging its foundations. This provocative collection of new and recent reflections brings together his work as a freelance columnist and essayist covering Brexit, British values, citizenship and immigration, Scotland’s independence referendum, tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, education policy and legal reform. These essays highlight his substantial contributions to some of the leading political issues of our day. How deep is our current crisis – and what can we do about it to rebuild trust in our politicians, public institutions and each other? Brooks provides clear insights into these issues and more with his ‘realistic optimism’ for the future and why we can be the solution to our political crisis.
Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World, 2021
Climate change confronts us with our most pressing challenges today. The global consensus is clea... more Climate change confronts us with our most pressing challenges today. The global consensus is clear that human activity is mostly to blame for its harmful effects, but there is disagreement about what should be done. While no shortage of proposals from ecological footprints and the polluter pays principle to adaptation technology and economic reforms, each offers a solution – but is climate change a problem we can solve?
In this provocative new book, these popular proposals for ending or overcoming the threat of climate change are shown to offer no easy escape and each rest on an important mistake. Thom Brooks argues that a future environmental catastrophe is an event we can only delay or endure, but not avoid. This raises new ethical questions about how we should think about climate change. How should we reconceive sustainability without a status quo? Why is action more urgent and necessary than previously thought? What can we do to motivate and inspire hope? Many have misunderstood the kind of problem that climate change presents – as well as the daunting challenges we must face and overcome. Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World is a critical guide on how we can better understand the fragile world around us before it is too late.
This innovative book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, climate justice, environmental policy and environmental ethics.
Punishment: A Critical Introduction, 2nd edition, 2021
Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policymakers. Why should we punis... more Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policymakers. Why should we punish criminals? Which theory of punishment is most compelling? Is the death penalty ever justified? These questions and many more are examined in this highly engaging and accessible guide.
Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment, offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. The first comprehensive critical guide to examine all leading contemporary theories of punishments, this book explores – among others – retribution, the communicative theory of punishment, restorative justice and the unified theory of punishment. Thom Brooks applies these theories to several case studies in detail, including capital punishment, juvenile offending and domestic violence. Punishment highlights the problems and prospects of different approaches in order to argue for a more pluralistic and compelling perspective that is novel and ground-breaking.
This second edition has extensive revisions and updates to all chapters, including an all-new chapter on the unified theory substantively redrafted and new chapters on cyber-crimes and social media as well as corporate crimes. Punishment is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy, criminal justice, criminology, justice studies, law, political science and sociology.
How best to response to climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing us all. Ther... more How best to response to climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing us all. There is no uncertainty about whether it is happening, only the likely negative effects beyond the short-term. The need for a compelling analysis of what to do is more than a question of justice, but a matter of human survival. The stakes could not be higher. Proposed solutions come in one of two approaches. Each takes a different route to addressing the negative effects of climate change. The first is conservationist and seeks to minimise these effects by reducing, if not eliminating, them by bringing climate change to a stop. This can take form of advocating the use of an ecological footprint or implementing a polluter pays principle. The second is focused specifically on adaptation mostly through technological advances to help us endure climate change by minimising its effects on us. Many theorists advocate some use of both approaches in tandem as climate change is happening making necessary some form of adaptation and conservationism together. Yet it is also clear that most give greater weight to either conservation or adaptation as the primary mode of securing climate change justice. The dilemma for these proposed solutions is in their aim of being a solution to the problems that climate change brings. In short, they mistake the kind of challenge that climate change presents us. This is what I call the problem of "end-state" solutions. It is where we attempt to bring to an end a circumstance that might be influenced positively or otherwise by our activities, but beyond our full control. So to claim a so-called "solution" to such an everchanging problem could make it better or worse without concluding it. If climate change is this kind of problem-and I will claim it is-then end-state "solutions" can be no more than a band aid (or sticking plaster) and the nature of our challenge is different requiring an alternative future strategy. This chapter will set out how the problem of climate change is understood through attempted solutions that do not succeed. It concludes with some ideas about why this matters and the arising implications for how we should think about climate change justice beyond the false prism of end-state solutions.
Severe poverty is a key challenge for theorists of global justice. Most theorists have approached... more Severe poverty is a key challenge for theorists of global justice. Most theorists have approached this issue primarily by developing accounts for understanding which kinds of duties have relevance and how responsibilities for tackling severe poverty might be assigned to agents, whether individuals, nations or states. All such views share a commitment to ending severe poverty as a wrongful deprivation with profoundly negative impact on affected individuals. While much attention has prioritised identifying reasons for others to provide relief, this chapter will examine the nature of the wrongful deprivation that characterises severe poverty. One influential view is championed by Martha Nussbaum in her distinctive capabilities approach. An individual might be considered to experience severe poverty where she is unable to enjoy the use of her capabilities which should be available to her. But this position raises several questions. Take the fact that about 1 billion people are unable to meet their basic needs today. Would the capabilities approach claim the number is much higher given its wider grasp of human flourishing beyond mere material subsistence-and what implications would flow from this? Or would the capabilities approach claim only a portion of those unable to meet their basic needs are in a wrongful state because their circumstances are a result of free choice-and what would this mean? These questions indicate a potential concern about whether the approach is over-or under-inclusive and why. (Forthcoming in Thom Brooks (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Global Justice. Oxford University Press.)
Brooks, Thom (2017). "Hegel on Crime and Punishment" in Brooks and Sebastian Stein (eds), Hegel's... more Brooks, Thom (2017). "Hegel on Crime and Punishment" in Brooks and Sebastian Stein (eds), Hegel's Political Philosophy: On the Normative Significance of Method and System. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 202--221.
Perhaps the least controversial issue for most commentators on Hegel’s political and legal philosophy concerns his theory of punishment. The orthodox consensus is that Hegel was a retributivist who justified punishing deserving criminals in order to ‘annul’ their crimes. Broadly speaking, the classic ‘positive’ view of retribution is that punishment can only be justified where deserved and to the degree it is deserved. In that light, some commentators have claimed Hegel is ‘one of the most famous and important retributivists’. While they are often deeply divided on so many other issues in his philosophy, the orthodox consensus among Hegel scholars is no accident. Hegel offers us comments about punishment that support this interpretation. Hegel is clear that punishment is only justified where it is deserved by an offender for committing a crime. Punishment aspires to be a ‘cancellation’ of a crime and its ill-effects in a ‘restoration of right’ – restoring rights violated by a crime (PR, §99). Hegel says: ‘the cancellation [Aufheben] of crime is retribution’ (PR, §101). For most scholars, these well-known and widely cited passages make clear that Hegel understood his own theory of punishment as retributivist and it is such a theory. Allen Wood calls Hegel ‘a genuine retributivist’. The orthodox consensus rests on a mistake. It fails to take sufficient account of Hegel’s distinctive form of argumentation that runs deep throughout his philosophical system, including his comments about punishment. Hegel did not present his system and its unique argumentative structure in the standard form we find with most modern philosophers – and it is easy to downplay or overlook this fact not least since Hegel’s dialectical form of argument is deeply controversial and seen as more of a problem for understanding Hegel’s views than enlightening us as to what his views are. In the following sections, I offer a systematic reading of Hegel’s comments about punishment in his philosophical system with careful attention to his Philosophy of Right. I argue that the conventional reading which claims his theory of punishment is mostly confined to the section Abstract Right raises interpretive difficulties. One problem is the inadequacy of punishment as described in Abstract Right to be a complete theory of punishment so often overlooked. A second problem is accounting for apparent inconsistencies between what Hegel says in Abstract Right versus comments stated elsewhere in the Philosophy of Right and larger system. I argue that later sections like Ethical Life matter for our understanding Hegel’s penal theory and a systematic reading of his texts – where we consider his arguments in light of their systematic structure – can help make best sense of this. I conclude by reflecting on the implications this reading has for our understanding Hegel’s philosophy and its contemporary appeal.
Brooks, Thom & Diana Sankey (2017). "Beyond Reason: The Legal Importance of Emotions" in Patrick ... more Brooks, Thom & Diana Sankey (2017). "Beyond Reason: The Legal Importance of Emotions" in Patrick Capps and Shaun D. Pattinson (eds), Ethical Rationalism and the Law (Oxford: Hart): 131—148.
Deryck Beyleveld has forged a theory of ethical rationalism that has made an important impact on legal and moral philosophy—that this collection of essays makes clear. He has not only refined and improved the original account developed by Alan Gewirth, but provides us with ethical rationalism’s most prolific defender today. One area of particular insight is Beyleveld’s many applications of ethical rationalism to practice and, most especially, to medical law and ethics which has been especially influential. This work has set the bar for all proponents and critics alike.
We focus narrowly on a specific concern that we have with ethical rationalism: its primacy of rationality over other characteristics, such as our emotions. This is not to deny the importance of reason in our thinking about law and ethical concerns. But we have concerns with any view that holds that reason is the only key to how any tensions should be resolved. Such a position claims for reason a privileged status it does not have or merit. One problem for us is that, in our view, ethical rationalism does not appear to adequately consider the importance of emotions and so it does not provide a satisfactory account of law and morality as a result. We examine this concern in the first part of our chapter.
This chapter’s second part raises concerns with the application of ethical rationalism as a model for understanding sexual offences. We highlight both the need to foreground emotion in order to understand the current law, as well as the dangers from a normative perspective of appearing to marginalise the role of emotion in sexual offences. Not only would a prioritisation of rationality fail to reflect the role emotion can play in current rape law, but we would argue, is particularly problematic in this area of law in terms of promoting justice. In summary, Beyleveld’s ethical rationalism exercises an important impact on legal theory and legal practices. Nonetheless, we raise some reservations about its connection to these impacts that lead us to support revisions to this approach.
Hegel famously argues that the speculative method that grounds his claims about socio-political r... more Hegel famously argues that the speculative method that grounds his claims about socio-political reality is the inevitable and superior alternative to all other ways of philosophical thinking. It is only in the light of this method and the system it begets that Hegel's claims about socio-political reality can be rationally evaluated. Does this open him to the charge of dogmatism? Are his claims about the rationality of monarchy, unequal gender relations, an unelected second parliamentary chamber and a corporation-based economy beyond revision? If not, does his political philosophy collapse into relativism? Since Hegel's method is supposed to save him from either extreme, is there anything about his criticism of previous philosophies that could make his approach attractive to contemporary thinkers? Or is it preferable to focus on Hegel's conclusions only, disregard his method and interpret him non-systematically? This collection of new essays is dedicated to the questions that surround Hegel's philosophical method and its relationship to the conclusions of his political philosophy. It contributes to the ongoing debate about the importance of a systematic context for political philosophy, the relationship between theoretical and practical philosophy, it engages with contemporary discussions about the shape of a rational social order and gauges the timeliness of Hegel's way of thinking.
Becoming British explores the big questions rarely answered by the politicians. UK citizenship ha... more Becoming British explores the big questions rarely answered by the politicians. UK citizenship has undergone substantial changes in recent decades and a clear up-to-date examination of what UK citizenship actually means, who has access to it and on what terms, is long overdue.
Immigration receives widespread attention, but less attention is paid to the major increase in the number of people becoming British citizens. This book explains the immigration problems that modern UK citizenship was meant to solve, what the major challenges are today and how they can be met.
Thom Brooks examines the relationship between immigration and citizenship in order to challenge the popular and political myths that surround this topic. This is a must-read for anyone interested in UK citizenship, policy makers and anyone working in the area.
Alcohol and its consumption is a major topic for public policy-making. Growing awareness of alcoh... more Alcohol and its consumption is a major topic for public policy-making. Growing awareness of alcohol-related health problems among the general public has led to high levels of interest in alcohol consumption and its impact on society. This innovative collection of new perspectives on this critically important issue is informed by a leading group of international social scientists. Topics covered include alcoholism, the family, minimum pricing, paternalistic controls, and Socially Responsible Investment programs. Together, these essays reveal illuminating new insights into how public policy might be improved.
Citizenship has come under increasing strain in the face of globalization. Our world gets ever sm... more Citizenship has come under increasing strain in the face of globalization. Our world gets ever smaller while it sometimes seems our borders are becoming ever more closed. What is citizenship and how can it be ethical? Should citizens owe each other special duties denied to non-citizens? How might theories about citizenship impact on our practices?
Ethical Citizenship rediscovers a significant and distinctive contribution to how we might understand citizenship today in the first full length examination of this topic. Ethical citizenship is a communitarian relationship between members of a community based around a shared conception of the common good first defended by British Idealists. This book explores its historical roots, contemporary relevance and application to international politics in an engaging work by leading international scholars bringing together theory and practice.
Widely hailed as one of the most significant works in modern political philosophy, John Rawls's P... more Widely hailed as one of the most significant works in modern political philosophy, John Rawls's Political Liberalism (1993) defended a powerful vision of society that respects reasonable ways of life, both religious and secular. These core values have never been more critical as anxiety grows over political and religious difference and new restrictions are placed on peaceful protest and individual expression.
This anthology of original essays suggests new, groundbreaking applications of Rawls's work in multiple disciplines and contexts. Thom Brooks, Martha Nussbaum, Onora O'Neill (University of Cambridge), Paul Weithman (University of Notre Dame), Jeremy Waldron (New York University), and Frank Michelman (Harvard University) explore political liberalism's relevance to the challenges of multiculturalism, the relationship between the state and religion, the struggle for political legitimacy, and the capabilities approach. Extending Rawls's progressive thought to the fields of law, economics, and public reason, this book helps advance the project of a free society that thrives despite disagreements over religious and moral views.
Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policy makers. Why should we puni... more Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policy makers. Why should we punish criminals? Which theory of punishment is most compelling? Is the death penalty ever justified? These questions and many others are addressed in this highly engaging guide.
Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment, offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. The first critical guide to examine all leading contemporary theories of punishment, this book explores – among others – the communicative theory of punishment, restorative justice, and the unified theory of punishment. Thom Brooks examines several case studies in detail, including capital punishment, juvenile offending, and domestic abuse. Punishment highlights the problems and prospects of different approaches in order to argue for a more pluralistic and compelling perspective that is novel and groundbreaking.
Preface. Introduction. Part I: General Theories 1. Retributivism 2. Deterrence 3. Rehabilitation 4. Restorative Justice Part II: Hybrid Theories 5. Rawls, Hart, and the ‘Mixed Theory’ 6. Expressivism 7. Unified Theory Part III: Case Studies 8. Capital Punishment 9. Juvenile Offenders 10. Domestic Abuse 11. Sexual Crimes. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index
Current Controversies in Political Philosophy brings together an international team of leading ... more Current Controversies in Political Philosophy brings together an international team of leading philosophers to explore and debate four key and dynamic issues in the field in an accessible way. Should we all be cosmopolitans? – Gillian Brock and Cara Nine Are rights important? – Rowan Cruft and Sonu Bedi Is sexual objectification wrong and, if so, why? – Lina Papadaki and Scott Anderson What to do about climate change? – Alexa Zellentin and Thom Brooks These questions are the focus of intense debate. Preliminary chapter descriptions, bibliographies following each chapter, and annotated guides to supplemental readings help provide clearer and richer snapshots of active controversy for all readers.
"A welcome, well-executed and irresistible invitation to students and teachers both to engage critically and to advance in creative ways recent work in political philosophy on central topics of universal interest."
David A. Reidy, University of Tennessee, USA
"This volume provides an accessible and very engaging introduction to some of the most important debates in political theory by some of the finest young scholars working in the field. A valuable resource for undergraduate teaching and advanced researchers alike."
Christian Barry, Australian National University, Australia
New Waves in Global Justice brings together the leading future figures in global justice with ess... more New Waves in Global Justice brings together the leading future figures in global justice with essays ranging from climate change and global poverty to just war and human rights and immigration. An ideal collection for anyone interested in the most important debates in global justice, as well as those with an interest in the latest significant contributions from the leading new generation of international philosophers working in global justice.
Review
"The Global Justice reader is an important work of our time. It means that we can chart t... more Review
"The Global Justice reader is an important work of our time. It means that we can chart the development of the idea of justice in terms of the themes that occupy our world today. This book is a great idea about a great idea."
Robert Imre, University of Notre Dame, Australia
"Thom Brooks′ The Global Justice Reader fills an urgent need for those who teach the philosophical dimensions of global issues, and their students. Brooks has pulled together an interesting and provocative set of articles, many of them classics in their fields. This book will set the benchmark against which others will be judged."
Stephen Gardiner, University of Washington
"This is both the broadest and the deepest selection of texts on morality beyond borders. Those looking for sharp analyses of crucial issues in global justice will find this collection clearly the best choice."
Leif Wenar, University of Sheffield
Product Description
The Global Justice Reader is a first–of–its kind collection that brings together key foundational and contemporary writings on this important topic in moral and political philosophy.
Brings together key foundational and contemporary writings on this important topic in moral and political philosophy
Offers a brief introduction followed by important readings on subjects ranging from sovereignty, human rights, and nationalism to global poverty, terrorism, and international environmental justice
Presents the writings of key figures in the field, including Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, Thomas Pogge, Peter Singer, and many others
Hegel's Elements of the Philosophy of Right is widely acknowledged to be one of the most importan... more Hegel's Elements of the Philosophy of Right is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important works in the history of political philosophy. It is broadly agreed that Hegel intended this work to be interpreted as a significant part of his greater system of speculative philosophy. Where disagreement occurs is on the question of the relevance of Hegel's larger philosophical system to understanding his Philosophy of Right. This is the first book on the subject to take Hegel's system of speculative philosophy seriously as an important component of any robust understanding of his Philosophy of Right. It sets out the difference between 'systematic' and 'non-systematic' readings of the text before discussing important, relevant features of Hegel's system, in particular, the unique structure of his philosophical arguments. The greater part of the book demonstrates the results of this systematic reading by exploring several areas of Hegel's political philosophy: his theories of property, punishment, morality, law, monarchy, and war. It is shown that by looking beyond the text to Hegel's larger philosophical system, we can achieve an improved understanding of Hegel's Philosophy of Right.
The steep rise in small boat crossings across the English Channel is deeply worrying. Ever more l... more The steep rise in small boat crossings across the English Channel is deeply worrying. Ever more lives are put at risk in making the 21-mile journey. Human trafficking gangs trade in human misery. The UK’s asylum system is put under additional strain and at ever higher cost to taxpayers. The public has lost trust in the Government to put this right. In order to address the problem, we must understand it and grasp its underlying causes. A key issue is that the Government did not see the problem of small boat crossings as a consequence of its policy failures, most notably its failure to secure a post-Brexit returns arrangement with the EU. An effective plan to deal with small boat crossings is urgently needed to win back public confidence, to save lives, to improve our asylum system and help put illegal human traffickers out of business. This Report is an attempt to outline such a plan with over a dozen recommendations.
The UK’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis was shockingly slow and inadequate. While Europea... more The UK’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis was shockingly slow and inadequate. While European Union members opened their doors to millions of refugees, the UK government dithered and delayed. Its response lacked both competence and compassion. But asylum is only one area where the government is getting it wrong on immigration.
In this pamphlet, Thom Brooks sets out a new immigration plan for Labour. It is a plan rooted in the Labour values of compassion and fairness. It offers the opportunity to create a fit for purpose immigration system to deal with one of the greatest challenges of our time.
How many questions could you answer in a pub quiz about British values?
Designed to ensure new m... more How many questions could you answer in a pub quiz about British values?
Designed to ensure new migrants have accepted British values and integrated, the UK's citizenship test is often portrayed as a bad pub quiz with answers few citizens know. With the launch of a new post-Brexit immigration system, this is a critical time to change the test.
Thom Brooks draws on first-hand experience of taking the test, and interviews with key figures including past Home Secretaries, to expose the test as ineffective and a barrier to citizenship. This accessible guide offers recommendations for transforming the citizenship test into a ‘bridge to citizenship’ which fosters greater inclusion and integration.
Trust is essential for our democracy. We trust our political leaders and institutions to put the ... more Trust is essential for our democracy. We trust our political leaders and institutions to put the public interest before their personal or partisan advantage. We trust each other to work and live together. No system is perfect and there is rarely one right answer to the big challenges faced, but we expect leaders to be honest, competent and compassionate – and punish any breaches harshly in the polls or the ballot box. But not any longer. Now is a time of political crisis that’s fuelled by a lack of trust in government and the mainstream. This carries significant and damaging consequences for the future of our democracy fragmenting and polarising our communities. While election results from Brexit to Trump shocked political pundits on both sides of the Atlantic, the roots of an alienated and divided public who increasingly do not trust public figures to put the public interest first have root causes that run deep. The absence of trust creates a political shift akin to a new kind of revolution putting at risk our democracy’s future health. Awareness and action have never been needed more urgently. For over two decades, Thom Brooks has been a leading voice in exposing this crisis in trust and challenging its foundations. This provocative collection of new and recent reflections brings together his work as a freelance columnist and essayist covering Brexit, British values, citizenship and immigration, Scotland’s independence referendum, tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, education policy and legal reform. These essays highlight his substantial contributions to some of the leading political issues of our day. How deep is our current crisis – and what can we do about it to rebuild trust in our politicians, public institutions and each other? Brooks provides clear insights into these issues and more with his ‘realistic optimism’ for the future and why we can be the solution to our political crisis.
Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World, 2021
Climate change confronts us with our most pressing challenges today. The global consensus is clea... more Climate change confronts us with our most pressing challenges today. The global consensus is clear that human activity is mostly to blame for its harmful effects, but there is disagreement about what should be done. While no shortage of proposals from ecological footprints and the polluter pays principle to adaptation technology and economic reforms, each offers a solution – but is climate change a problem we can solve?
In this provocative new book, these popular proposals for ending or overcoming the threat of climate change are shown to offer no easy escape and each rest on an important mistake. Thom Brooks argues that a future environmental catastrophe is an event we can only delay or endure, but not avoid. This raises new ethical questions about how we should think about climate change. How should we reconceive sustainability without a status quo? Why is action more urgent and necessary than previously thought? What can we do to motivate and inspire hope? Many have misunderstood the kind of problem that climate change presents – as well as the daunting challenges we must face and overcome. Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World is a critical guide on how we can better understand the fragile world around us before it is too late.
This innovative book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, climate justice, environmental policy and environmental ethics.
Punishment: A Critical Introduction, 2nd edition, 2021
Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policymakers. Why should we punis... more Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policymakers. Why should we punish criminals? Which theory of punishment is most compelling? Is the death penalty ever justified? These questions and many more are examined in this highly engaging and accessible guide.
Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment, offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. The first comprehensive critical guide to examine all leading contemporary theories of punishments, this book explores – among others – retribution, the communicative theory of punishment, restorative justice and the unified theory of punishment. Thom Brooks applies these theories to several case studies in detail, including capital punishment, juvenile offending and domestic violence. Punishment highlights the problems and prospects of different approaches in order to argue for a more pluralistic and compelling perspective that is novel and ground-breaking.
This second edition has extensive revisions and updates to all chapters, including an all-new chapter on the unified theory substantively redrafted and new chapters on cyber-crimes and social media as well as corporate crimes. Punishment is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy, criminal justice, criminology, justice studies, law, political science and sociology.
How best to response to climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing us all. Ther... more How best to response to climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing us all. There is no uncertainty about whether it is happening, only the likely negative effects beyond the short-term. The need for a compelling analysis of what to do is more than a question of justice, but a matter of human survival. The stakes could not be higher. Proposed solutions come in one of two approaches. Each takes a different route to addressing the negative effects of climate change. The first is conservationist and seeks to minimise these effects by reducing, if not eliminating, them by bringing climate change to a stop. This can take form of advocating the use of an ecological footprint or implementing a polluter pays principle. The second is focused specifically on adaptation mostly through technological advances to help us endure climate change by minimising its effects on us. Many theorists advocate some use of both approaches in tandem as climate change is happening making necessary some form of adaptation and conservationism together. Yet it is also clear that most give greater weight to either conservation or adaptation as the primary mode of securing climate change justice. The dilemma for these proposed solutions is in their aim of being a solution to the problems that climate change brings. In short, they mistake the kind of challenge that climate change presents us. This is what I call the problem of "end-state" solutions. It is where we attempt to bring to an end a circumstance that might be influenced positively or otherwise by our activities, but beyond our full control. So to claim a so-called "solution" to such an everchanging problem could make it better or worse without concluding it. If climate change is this kind of problem-and I will claim it is-then end-state "solutions" can be no more than a band aid (or sticking plaster) and the nature of our challenge is different requiring an alternative future strategy. This chapter will set out how the problem of climate change is understood through attempted solutions that do not succeed. It concludes with some ideas about why this matters and the arising implications for how we should think about climate change justice beyond the false prism of end-state solutions.
Severe poverty is a key challenge for theorists of global justice. Most theorists have approached... more Severe poverty is a key challenge for theorists of global justice. Most theorists have approached this issue primarily by developing accounts for understanding which kinds of duties have relevance and how responsibilities for tackling severe poverty might be assigned to agents, whether individuals, nations or states. All such views share a commitment to ending severe poverty as a wrongful deprivation with profoundly negative impact on affected individuals. While much attention has prioritised identifying reasons for others to provide relief, this chapter will examine the nature of the wrongful deprivation that characterises severe poverty. One influential view is championed by Martha Nussbaum in her distinctive capabilities approach. An individual might be considered to experience severe poverty where she is unable to enjoy the use of her capabilities which should be available to her. But this position raises several questions. Take the fact that about 1 billion people are unable to meet their basic needs today. Would the capabilities approach claim the number is much higher given its wider grasp of human flourishing beyond mere material subsistence-and what implications would flow from this? Or would the capabilities approach claim only a portion of those unable to meet their basic needs are in a wrongful state because their circumstances are a result of free choice-and what would this mean? These questions indicate a potential concern about whether the approach is over-or under-inclusive and why. (Forthcoming in Thom Brooks (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Global Justice. Oxford University Press.)
Brooks, Thom (2017). "Hegel on Crime and Punishment" in Brooks and Sebastian Stein (eds), Hegel's... more Brooks, Thom (2017). "Hegel on Crime and Punishment" in Brooks and Sebastian Stein (eds), Hegel's Political Philosophy: On the Normative Significance of Method and System. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 202--221.
Perhaps the least controversial issue for most commentators on Hegel’s political and legal philosophy concerns his theory of punishment. The orthodox consensus is that Hegel was a retributivist who justified punishing deserving criminals in order to ‘annul’ their crimes. Broadly speaking, the classic ‘positive’ view of retribution is that punishment can only be justified where deserved and to the degree it is deserved. In that light, some commentators have claimed Hegel is ‘one of the most famous and important retributivists’. While they are often deeply divided on so many other issues in his philosophy, the orthodox consensus among Hegel scholars is no accident. Hegel offers us comments about punishment that support this interpretation. Hegel is clear that punishment is only justified where it is deserved by an offender for committing a crime. Punishment aspires to be a ‘cancellation’ of a crime and its ill-effects in a ‘restoration of right’ – restoring rights violated by a crime (PR, §99). Hegel says: ‘the cancellation [Aufheben] of crime is retribution’ (PR, §101). For most scholars, these well-known and widely cited passages make clear that Hegel understood his own theory of punishment as retributivist and it is such a theory. Allen Wood calls Hegel ‘a genuine retributivist’. The orthodox consensus rests on a mistake. It fails to take sufficient account of Hegel’s distinctive form of argumentation that runs deep throughout his philosophical system, including his comments about punishment. Hegel did not present his system and its unique argumentative structure in the standard form we find with most modern philosophers – and it is easy to downplay or overlook this fact not least since Hegel’s dialectical form of argument is deeply controversial and seen as more of a problem for understanding Hegel’s views than enlightening us as to what his views are. In the following sections, I offer a systematic reading of Hegel’s comments about punishment in his philosophical system with careful attention to his Philosophy of Right. I argue that the conventional reading which claims his theory of punishment is mostly confined to the section Abstract Right raises interpretive difficulties. One problem is the inadequacy of punishment as described in Abstract Right to be a complete theory of punishment so often overlooked. A second problem is accounting for apparent inconsistencies between what Hegel says in Abstract Right versus comments stated elsewhere in the Philosophy of Right and larger system. I argue that later sections like Ethical Life matter for our understanding Hegel’s penal theory and a systematic reading of his texts – where we consider his arguments in light of their systematic structure – can help make best sense of this. I conclude by reflecting on the implications this reading has for our understanding Hegel’s philosophy and its contemporary appeal.
Brooks, Thom & Diana Sankey (2017). "Beyond Reason: The Legal Importance of Emotions" in Patrick ... more Brooks, Thom & Diana Sankey (2017). "Beyond Reason: The Legal Importance of Emotions" in Patrick Capps and Shaun D. Pattinson (eds), Ethical Rationalism and the Law (Oxford: Hart): 131—148.
Deryck Beyleveld has forged a theory of ethical rationalism that has made an important impact on legal and moral philosophy—that this collection of essays makes clear. He has not only refined and improved the original account developed by Alan Gewirth, but provides us with ethical rationalism’s most prolific defender today. One area of particular insight is Beyleveld’s many applications of ethical rationalism to practice and, most especially, to medical law and ethics which has been especially influential. This work has set the bar for all proponents and critics alike.
We focus narrowly on a specific concern that we have with ethical rationalism: its primacy of rationality over other characteristics, such as our emotions. This is not to deny the importance of reason in our thinking about law and ethical concerns. But we have concerns with any view that holds that reason is the only key to how any tensions should be resolved. Such a position claims for reason a privileged status it does not have or merit. One problem for us is that, in our view, ethical rationalism does not appear to adequately consider the importance of emotions and so it does not provide a satisfactory account of law and morality as a result. We examine this concern in the first part of our chapter.
This chapter’s second part raises concerns with the application of ethical rationalism as a model for understanding sexual offences. We highlight both the need to foreground emotion in order to understand the current law, as well as the dangers from a normative perspective of appearing to marginalise the role of emotion in sexual offences. Not only would a prioritisation of rationality fail to reflect the role emotion can play in current rape law, but we would argue, is particularly problematic in this area of law in terms of promoting justice. In summary, Beyleveld’s ethical rationalism exercises an important impact on legal theory and legal practices. Nonetheless, we raise some reservations about its connection to these impacts that lead us to support revisions to this approach.
Hegel famously argues that the speculative method that grounds his claims about socio-political r... more Hegel famously argues that the speculative method that grounds his claims about socio-political reality is the inevitable and superior alternative to all other ways of philosophical thinking. It is only in the light of this method and the system it begets that Hegel's claims about socio-political reality can be rationally evaluated. Does this open him to the charge of dogmatism? Are his claims about the rationality of monarchy, unequal gender relations, an unelected second parliamentary chamber and a corporation-based economy beyond revision? If not, does his political philosophy collapse into relativism? Since Hegel's method is supposed to save him from either extreme, is there anything about his criticism of previous philosophies that could make his approach attractive to contemporary thinkers? Or is it preferable to focus on Hegel's conclusions only, disregard his method and interpret him non-systematically? This collection of new essays is dedicated to the questions that surround Hegel's philosophical method and its relationship to the conclusions of his political philosophy. It contributes to the ongoing debate about the importance of a systematic context for political philosophy, the relationship between theoretical and practical philosophy, it engages with contemporary discussions about the shape of a rational social order and gauges the timeliness of Hegel's way of thinking.
Becoming British explores the big questions rarely answered by the politicians. UK citizenship ha... more Becoming British explores the big questions rarely answered by the politicians. UK citizenship has undergone substantial changes in recent decades and a clear up-to-date examination of what UK citizenship actually means, who has access to it and on what terms, is long overdue.
Immigration receives widespread attention, but less attention is paid to the major increase in the number of people becoming British citizens. This book explains the immigration problems that modern UK citizenship was meant to solve, what the major challenges are today and how they can be met.
Thom Brooks examines the relationship between immigration and citizenship in order to challenge the popular and political myths that surround this topic. This is a must-read for anyone interested in UK citizenship, policy makers and anyone working in the area.
Alcohol and its consumption is a major topic for public policy-making. Growing awareness of alcoh... more Alcohol and its consumption is a major topic for public policy-making. Growing awareness of alcohol-related health problems among the general public has led to high levels of interest in alcohol consumption and its impact on society. This innovative collection of new perspectives on this critically important issue is informed by a leading group of international social scientists. Topics covered include alcoholism, the family, minimum pricing, paternalistic controls, and Socially Responsible Investment programs. Together, these essays reveal illuminating new insights into how public policy might be improved.
Citizenship has come under increasing strain in the face of globalization. Our world gets ever sm... more Citizenship has come under increasing strain in the face of globalization. Our world gets ever smaller while it sometimes seems our borders are becoming ever more closed. What is citizenship and how can it be ethical? Should citizens owe each other special duties denied to non-citizens? How might theories about citizenship impact on our practices?
Ethical Citizenship rediscovers a significant and distinctive contribution to how we might understand citizenship today in the first full length examination of this topic. Ethical citizenship is a communitarian relationship between members of a community based around a shared conception of the common good first defended by British Idealists. This book explores its historical roots, contemporary relevance and application to international politics in an engaging work by leading international scholars bringing together theory and practice.
Widely hailed as one of the most significant works in modern political philosophy, John Rawls's P... more Widely hailed as one of the most significant works in modern political philosophy, John Rawls's Political Liberalism (1993) defended a powerful vision of society that respects reasonable ways of life, both religious and secular. These core values have never been more critical as anxiety grows over political and religious difference and new restrictions are placed on peaceful protest and individual expression.
This anthology of original essays suggests new, groundbreaking applications of Rawls's work in multiple disciplines and contexts. Thom Brooks, Martha Nussbaum, Onora O'Neill (University of Cambridge), Paul Weithman (University of Notre Dame), Jeremy Waldron (New York University), and Frank Michelman (Harvard University) explore political liberalism's relevance to the challenges of multiculturalism, the relationship between the state and religion, the struggle for political legitimacy, and the capabilities approach. Extending Rawls's progressive thought to the fields of law, economics, and public reason, this book helps advance the project of a free society that thrives despite disagreements over religious and moral views.
Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policy makers. Why should we puni... more Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policy makers. Why should we punish criminals? Which theory of punishment is most compelling? Is the death penalty ever justified? These questions and many others are addressed in this highly engaging guide.
Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment, offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. The first critical guide to examine all leading contemporary theories of punishment, this book explores – among others – the communicative theory of punishment, restorative justice, and the unified theory of punishment. Thom Brooks examines several case studies in detail, including capital punishment, juvenile offending, and domestic abuse. Punishment highlights the problems and prospects of different approaches in order to argue for a more pluralistic and compelling perspective that is novel and groundbreaking.
Preface. Introduction. Part I: General Theories 1. Retributivism 2. Deterrence 3. Rehabilitation 4. Restorative Justice Part II: Hybrid Theories 5. Rawls, Hart, and the ‘Mixed Theory’ 6. Expressivism 7. Unified Theory Part III: Case Studies 8. Capital Punishment 9. Juvenile Offenders 10. Domestic Abuse 11. Sexual Crimes. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index
Current Controversies in Political Philosophy brings together an international team of leading ... more Current Controversies in Political Philosophy brings together an international team of leading philosophers to explore and debate four key and dynamic issues in the field in an accessible way. Should we all be cosmopolitans? – Gillian Brock and Cara Nine Are rights important? – Rowan Cruft and Sonu Bedi Is sexual objectification wrong and, if so, why? – Lina Papadaki and Scott Anderson What to do about climate change? – Alexa Zellentin and Thom Brooks These questions are the focus of intense debate. Preliminary chapter descriptions, bibliographies following each chapter, and annotated guides to supplemental readings help provide clearer and richer snapshots of active controversy for all readers.
"A welcome, well-executed and irresistible invitation to students and teachers both to engage critically and to advance in creative ways recent work in political philosophy on central topics of universal interest."
David A. Reidy, University of Tennessee, USA
"This volume provides an accessible and very engaging introduction to some of the most important debates in political theory by some of the finest young scholars working in the field. A valuable resource for undergraduate teaching and advanced researchers alike."
Christian Barry, Australian National University, Australia
New Waves in Global Justice brings together the leading future figures in global justice with ess... more New Waves in Global Justice brings together the leading future figures in global justice with essays ranging from climate change and global poverty to just war and human rights and immigration. An ideal collection for anyone interested in the most important debates in global justice, as well as those with an interest in the latest significant contributions from the leading new generation of international philosophers working in global justice.
Review
"The Global Justice reader is an important work of our time. It means that we can chart t... more Review
"The Global Justice reader is an important work of our time. It means that we can chart the development of the idea of justice in terms of the themes that occupy our world today. This book is a great idea about a great idea."
Robert Imre, University of Notre Dame, Australia
"Thom Brooks′ The Global Justice Reader fills an urgent need for those who teach the philosophical dimensions of global issues, and their students. Brooks has pulled together an interesting and provocative set of articles, many of them classics in their fields. This book will set the benchmark against which others will be judged."
Stephen Gardiner, University of Washington
"This is both the broadest and the deepest selection of texts on morality beyond borders. Those looking for sharp analyses of crucial issues in global justice will find this collection clearly the best choice."
Leif Wenar, University of Sheffield
Product Description
The Global Justice Reader is a first–of–its kind collection that brings together key foundational and contemporary writings on this important topic in moral and political philosophy.
Brings together key foundational and contemporary writings on this important topic in moral and political philosophy
Offers a brief introduction followed by important readings on subjects ranging from sovereignty, human rights, and nationalism to global poverty, terrorism, and international environmental justice
Presents the writings of key figures in the field, including Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, Thomas Pogge, Peter Singer, and many others
Hegel's Elements of the Philosophy of Right is widely acknowledged to be one of the most importan... more Hegel's Elements of the Philosophy of Right is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important works in the history of political philosophy. It is broadly agreed that Hegel intended this work to be interpreted as a significant part of his greater system of speculative philosophy. Where disagreement occurs is on the question of the relevance of Hegel's larger philosophical system to understanding his Philosophy of Right. This is the first book on the subject to take Hegel's system of speculative philosophy seriously as an important component of any robust understanding of his Philosophy of Right. It sets out the difference between 'systematic' and 'non-systematic' readings of the text before discussing important, relevant features of Hegel's system, in particular, the unique structure of his philosophical arguments. The greater part of the book demonstrates the results of this systematic reading by exploring several areas of Hegel's political philosophy: his theories of property, punishment, morality, law, monarchy, and war. It is shown that by looking beyond the text to Hegel's larger philosophical system, we can achieve an improved understanding of Hegel's Philosophy of Right.
Mahādēviyakka was a radical 12th century Karnataka saint of whom surprisingly little has been wri... more Mahādēviyakka was a radical 12th century Karnataka saint of whom surprisingly little has been written. Considered the most poetic of the Vīraśaivas, her vacanas are characterized by their desperate searching for Śiva. I attempt to convey Mahādēvi's epistemology and its struggle to'know'Śiva, necessitating a lifetime of searching for him; offer an interpretation of the innate presence of Śiva in the world and its consequences for epistemology; and explore the sense of tragic love inherent in devotional searching for Śiva. My primary goal is to ...
selected parts of academic debates instead of revealing their main themes. For example, while the... more selected parts of academic debates instead of revealing their main themes. For example, while there are references to Ruth Benedict’s works in the disquisition on the notion of a cultural configuration, Ralph Linton’s important perspective is not considered. Hence, while the author sometimes repeats the critical remarks of his antecedents, for example, Aaron Wildavsky’s concept of political culture, he simultaneously ignores David D. Laitin’s polemic about its main facets. Despite these drawbacks, Welch accomplishes his goal in this theoretical study. Indeed, this well-written book is highly inspiring and enlightening because it shows how to think analytically and critically about the distinctive features of theory of political culture and how to modify its components. Overall, this volume engages researchers who are interested in the theory of politics, in particular practitioners of political culture studies.
Legal philosophy is about the analytical and normative study of law and legal concepts. This incl... more Legal philosophy is about the analytical and normative study of law and legal concepts. This includes questions of “what is law?” concerning the nature of law and fundamental questions about the law’s reach and authority. Legal philosophers critique the standard assumptions made by many legal practitioners to move beyond doctrinal legal analysis to reveal new insights and how potential problems might be resolved. This entry surveys the major approaches in legal philosophy, such as natural law theory, legal positivism, legal realism, the economic analysis of law, and alternative approaches. The entry then provides an overview of important issues in legal philosophy, such as adjudication, legal reasoning, and the philosophy of criminal law.
Book abstract: Climate change confronts us with our most pressing challenges today. The global co... more Book abstract: Climate change confronts us with our most pressing challenges today. The global consensus is clear that human activity is mostly to blame for its harmful effects, but there is disagreement about what should be done. While no shortage of proposals from ecological footprints and the polluter pays principle to adaptation technology and economic reforms, each offers a solution – but is climate change a problem we can solve? In this provocative new book, these popular proposals for ending or overcoming the threat of climate change are shown to offer no easy escape and each rests on an important mistake. Thom Brooks argues that a future environmental catastrophe is an event we can only delay or endure, but not avoid. This raises new ethical questions about how we should think about climate change. How should we reconceive sustainability without a status quo? Why is action more urgently and necessary than previously thought? What can we do to motivate and inspire hope? Many have misunderstood the kind of problem that climate change presents – as well as the daunting challenges we must face and overcome. Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World is a critical guide on how we can better understand the fragile world around us before it is too late.
Perhaps one of the most underappreciated philosophical movements is British Idealism. This moveme... more Perhaps one of the most underappreciated philosophical movements is British Idealism. This movement arose during the latter half of the nineteenth century and began to wane after the outbreak of the First World War. British Idealism has produced a number of important ...
Thom Brooks draws on first-hand experience and interviews with key figures including past Home Se... more Thom Brooks draws on first-hand experience and interviews with key figures including past Home Secretaries to expose the UK's Citizenship test as ineffective and a barrier to citizenship. This accessible guide offers recommendations for transforming the citizenship test into a ‘bridge to citizenship’ which fosters greater inclusion and integration.
World leaders from the US, UK and beyond have declared that multiculturalism has failed. They agr... more World leaders from the US, UK and beyond have declared that multiculturalism has failed. They agree that multicultural pluralism promotes division and undermines the solidarity required by any community for long-term cohesion. They are wrong, but the problem of securing cohesion is real. Hegel’s Philosophy of Right offers crucial insights into how the alienation endemic in modernity can be overcome through reconciliation and stakeholding. This analysis shows how multicultural pluralism can be achieved and promoted without sacrificing solidarity.
The Oxford Handbook of Punishment Theory and Philosophy, 2023
This chapter examines the issue of cruel and unusual punishment. Most philosophers accept that th... more This chapter examines the issue of cruel and unusual punishment. Most philosophers accept that there are limits to the justifiable severity of punishments even if considered less than deserved, suboptimal for deterrence or otherwise disproportionate. Very different reasons are given from each approach, but also a common thread that connects them. This chapter will show different ways of understanding this issue and the commonality in the solutions offered.
Uploads
In this pamphlet, Thom Brooks sets out a new immigration plan for Labour. It is a plan rooted in the Labour values of compassion and fairness. It offers the opportunity to create a fit for purpose immigration system to deal with one of the greatest challenges of our time.
Designed to ensure new migrants have accepted British values and integrated, the UK's citizenship test is often portrayed as a bad pub quiz with answers few citizens know. With the launch of a new post-Brexit immigration system, this is a critical time to change the test.
Thom Brooks draws on first-hand experience of taking the test, and interviews with key figures including past Home Secretaries, to expose the test as ineffective and a barrier to citizenship. This accessible guide offers recommendations for transforming the citizenship test into a ‘bridge to citizenship’ which fosters greater inclusion and integration.
But not any longer. Now is a time of political crisis that’s fuelled by a lack of trust in government and the mainstream. This carries significant and damaging consequences for the future of our democracy fragmenting and polarising our communities. While election results from Brexit to Trump shocked political pundits on both sides of the Atlantic, the roots of an alienated and divided public who increasingly do not trust public figures to put the public interest first have root causes that run deep. The absence of trust creates a political shift akin to a new kind of revolution putting at risk our democracy’s future health. Awareness and action have never been needed more urgently.
For over two decades, Thom Brooks has been a leading voice in exposing this crisis in trust and challenging its foundations. This provocative collection of new and recent reflections brings together his work as a freelance columnist and essayist covering Brexit, British values, citizenship and immigration, Scotland’s independence referendum, tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, education policy and legal reform. These essays highlight his substantial contributions to some of the leading political issues of our day. How deep is our current crisis – and what can we do about it to rebuild trust in our politicians, public institutions and each other? Brooks provides clear insights into these issues and more with his ‘realistic optimism’ for the future and why we can be the solution to our political crisis.
In this provocative new book, these popular proposals for ending or overcoming the threat of climate change are shown to offer no easy escape and each rest on an important mistake. Thom Brooks argues that a future environmental catastrophe is an event we can only delay or endure, but not avoid. This raises new ethical questions about how we should think about climate change. How should we reconceive sustainability without a status quo? Why is action more urgent and necessary than previously thought? What can we do to motivate and inspire hope? Many have misunderstood the kind of problem that climate change presents – as well as the daunting challenges we must face and overcome. Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World is a critical guide on how we can better understand the fragile world around us before it is too late.
This innovative book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, climate justice, environmental policy and environmental ethics.
Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment, offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. The first comprehensive critical guide to examine all leading contemporary theories of punishments, this book explores – among others – retribution, the communicative theory of punishment, restorative justice and the unified theory of punishment. Thom Brooks applies these theories to several case studies in detail, including capital punishment, juvenile offending and domestic violence. Punishment highlights the problems and prospects of different approaches in order to argue for a more pluralistic and compelling perspective that is novel and ground-breaking.
This second edition has extensive revisions and updates to all chapters, including an all-new chapter on the unified theory substantively redrafted and new chapters on cyber-crimes and social media as well as corporate crimes. Punishment is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy, criminal justice, criminology, justice studies, law, political science and sociology.
Perhaps the least controversial issue for most commentators on Hegel’s political and legal philosophy concerns his theory of punishment. The orthodox consensus is that Hegel was a retributivist who justified punishing deserving criminals in order to ‘annul’ their crimes. Broadly speaking, the classic ‘positive’ view of retribution is that punishment can only be justified where deserved and to the degree it is deserved. In that light, some commentators have claimed Hegel is ‘one of the most famous and important retributivists’.
While they are often deeply divided on so many other issues in his philosophy, the orthodox consensus among Hegel scholars is no accident. Hegel offers us comments about punishment that support this interpretation. Hegel is clear that punishment is only justified where it is deserved by an offender for committing a crime. Punishment aspires to be a ‘cancellation’ of a crime and its ill-effects in a ‘restoration of right’ – restoring rights violated by a crime (PR, §99). Hegel says: ‘the cancellation [Aufheben] of crime is retribution’ (PR, §101). For most scholars, these well-known and widely cited passages make clear that Hegel understood his own theory of punishment as retributivist and it is such a theory. Allen Wood calls Hegel ‘a genuine retributivist’.
The orthodox consensus rests on a mistake. It fails to take sufficient account of Hegel’s distinctive form of argumentation that runs deep throughout his philosophical system, including his comments about punishment. Hegel did not present his system and its unique argumentative structure in the standard form we find with most modern philosophers – and it is easy to downplay or overlook this fact not least since Hegel’s dialectical form of argument is deeply controversial and seen as more of a problem for understanding Hegel’s views than enlightening us as to what his views are.
In the following sections, I offer a systematic reading of Hegel’s comments about punishment in his philosophical system with careful attention to his Philosophy of Right. I argue that the conventional reading which claims his theory of punishment is mostly confined to the section Abstract Right raises interpretive difficulties. One problem is the inadequacy of punishment as described in Abstract Right to be a complete theory of punishment so often overlooked. A second problem is accounting for apparent inconsistencies between what Hegel says in Abstract Right versus comments stated elsewhere in the Philosophy of Right and larger system. I argue that later sections like Ethical Life matter for our understanding Hegel’s penal theory and a systematic reading of his texts – where we consider his arguments in light of their systematic structure – can help make best sense of this. I conclude by reflecting on the implications this reading has for our understanding Hegel’s philosophy and its contemporary appeal.
Deryck Beyleveld has forged a theory of ethical rationalism that has made an important impact on legal and moral philosophy—that this collection of essays makes clear. He has not only refined and improved the original account developed by Alan Gewirth, but provides us with ethical rationalism’s most prolific defender today. One area of particular insight is Beyleveld’s many applications of ethical rationalism to practice and, most especially, to medical law and ethics which has been especially influential. This work has set the bar for all proponents and critics alike.
We focus narrowly on a specific concern that we have with ethical rationalism: its primacy of rationality over other characteristics, such as our emotions. This is not to deny the importance of reason in our thinking about law and ethical concerns. But we have concerns with any view that holds that reason is the only key to how any tensions should be resolved. Such a position claims for reason a privileged status it does not have or merit. One problem for us is that, in our view, ethical rationalism does not appear to adequately consider the importance of emotions and so it does not provide a satisfactory account of law and morality as a result. We examine this concern in the first part of our chapter.
This chapter’s second part raises concerns with the application of ethical rationalism as a model for understanding sexual offences. We highlight both the need to foreground emotion in order to understand the current law, as well as the dangers from a normative perspective of appearing to marginalise the role of emotion in sexual offences. Not only would a prioritisation of rationality fail to reflect the role emotion can play in current rape law, but we would argue, is particularly problematic in this area of law in terms of promoting justice. In summary, Beyleveld’s ethical rationalism exercises an important impact on legal theory and legal practices. Nonetheless, we raise some reservations about its connection to these impacts that lead us to support revisions to this approach.
Immigration receives widespread attention, but less attention is paid to the major increase in the number of people becoming British citizens. This book explains the immigration problems that modern UK citizenship was meant to solve, what the major challenges are today and how they can be met.
Thom Brooks examines the relationship between immigration and citizenship in order to challenge the popular and political myths that surround this topic. This is a must-read for anyone interested in UK citizenship, policy makers and anyone working in the area.
Ethical Citizenship rediscovers a significant and distinctive contribution to how we might understand citizenship today in the first full length examination of this topic. Ethical citizenship is a communitarian relationship between members of a community based around a shared conception of the common good first defended by British Idealists. This book explores its historical roots, contemporary relevance and application to international politics in an engaging work by leading international scholars bringing together theory and practice.
This anthology of original essays suggests new, groundbreaking applications of Rawls's work in multiple disciplines and contexts. Thom Brooks, Martha Nussbaum, Onora O'Neill (University of Cambridge), Paul Weithman (University of Notre Dame), Jeremy Waldron (New York University), and Frank Michelman (Harvard University) explore political liberalism's relevance to the challenges of multiculturalism, the relationship between the state and religion, the struggle for political legitimacy, and the capabilities approach. Extending Rawls's progressive thought to the fields of law, economics, and public reason, this book helps advance the project of a free society that thrives despite disagreements over religious and moral views.
Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment, offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. The first critical guide to examine all leading contemporary theories of punishment, this book explores – among others – the communicative theory of punishment, restorative justice, and the unified theory of punishment. Thom Brooks examines several case studies in detail, including capital punishment, juvenile offending, and domestic abuse. Punishment highlights the problems and prospects of different approaches in order to argue for a more pluralistic and compelling perspective that is novel and groundbreaking.
Preface. Introduction. Part I: General Theories 1. Retributivism 2. Deterrence 3. Rehabilitation 4. Restorative Justice Part II: Hybrid Theories 5. Rawls, Hart, and the ‘Mixed Theory’ 6. Expressivism 7. Unified Theory Part III: Case Studies 8. Capital Punishment 9. Juvenile Offenders 10. Domestic Abuse 11. Sexual Crimes. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index
Follow Thom on Twitter - @thom_brooks
"A welcome, well-executed and irresistible invitation to students and teachers both to engage critically and to advance in creative ways recent work in political philosophy on central topics of universal interest."
David A. Reidy, University of Tennessee, USA
"This volume provides an accessible and very engaging introduction to some of the most important debates in political theory by some of the finest young scholars working in the field. A valuable resource for undergraduate teaching and advanced researchers alike."
Christian Barry, Australian National University, Australia
"The Global Justice reader is an important work of our time. It means that we can chart the development of the idea of justice in terms of the themes that occupy our world today. This book is a great idea about a great idea."
Robert Imre, University of Notre Dame, Australia
"Thom Brooks′ The Global Justice Reader fills an urgent need for those who teach the philosophical dimensions of global issues, and their students. Brooks has pulled together an interesting and provocative set of articles, many of them classics in their fields. This book will set the benchmark against which others will be judged."
Stephen Gardiner, University of Washington
"This is both the broadest and the deepest selection of texts on morality beyond borders. Those looking for sharp analyses of crucial issues in global justice will find this collection clearly the best choice."
Leif Wenar, University of Sheffield
Product Description
The Global Justice Reader is a first–of–its kind collection that brings together key foundational and contemporary writings on this important topic in moral and political philosophy.
Brings together key foundational and contemporary writings on this important topic in moral and political philosophy
Offers a brief introduction followed by important readings on subjects ranging from sovereignty, human rights, and nationalism to global poverty, terrorism, and international environmental justice
Presents the writings of key figures in the field, including Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, Thomas Pogge, Peter Singer, and many others
Follow Thom on Twitter - @thom_brooks
Follow Thom on Twitter - @thom_brooks
In this pamphlet, Thom Brooks sets out a new immigration plan for Labour. It is a plan rooted in the Labour values of compassion and fairness. It offers the opportunity to create a fit for purpose immigration system to deal with one of the greatest challenges of our time.
Designed to ensure new migrants have accepted British values and integrated, the UK's citizenship test is often portrayed as a bad pub quiz with answers few citizens know. With the launch of a new post-Brexit immigration system, this is a critical time to change the test.
Thom Brooks draws on first-hand experience of taking the test, and interviews with key figures including past Home Secretaries, to expose the test as ineffective and a barrier to citizenship. This accessible guide offers recommendations for transforming the citizenship test into a ‘bridge to citizenship’ which fosters greater inclusion and integration.
But not any longer. Now is a time of political crisis that’s fuelled by a lack of trust in government and the mainstream. This carries significant and damaging consequences for the future of our democracy fragmenting and polarising our communities. While election results from Brexit to Trump shocked political pundits on both sides of the Atlantic, the roots of an alienated and divided public who increasingly do not trust public figures to put the public interest first have root causes that run deep. The absence of trust creates a political shift akin to a new kind of revolution putting at risk our democracy’s future health. Awareness and action have never been needed more urgently.
For over two decades, Thom Brooks has been a leading voice in exposing this crisis in trust and challenging its foundations. This provocative collection of new and recent reflections brings together his work as a freelance columnist and essayist covering Brexit, British values, citizenship and immigration, Scotland’s independence referendum, tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, education policy and legal reform. These essays highlight his substantial contributions to some of the leading political issues of our day. How deep is our current crisis – and what can we do about it to rebuild trust in our politicians, public institutions and each other? Brooks provides clear insights into these issues and more with his ‘realistic optimism’ for the future and why we can be the solution to our political crisis.
In this provocative new book, these popular proposals for ending or overcoming the threat of climate change are shown to offer no easy escape and each rest on an important mistake. Thom Brooks argues that a future environmental catastrophe is an event we can only delay or endure, but not avoid. This raises new ethical questions about how we should think about climate change. How should we reconceive sustainability without a status quo? Why is action more urgent and necessary than previously thought? What can we do to motivate and inspire hope? Many have misunderstood the kind of problem that climate change presents – as well as the daunting challenges we must face and overcome. Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World is a critical guide on how we can better understand the fragile world around us before it is too late.
This innovative book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, climate justice, environmental policy and environmental ethics.
Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment, offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. The first comprehensive critical guide to examine all leading contemporary theories of punishments, this book explores – among others – retribution, the communicative theory of punishment, restorative justice and the unified theory of punishment. Thom Brooks applies these theories to several case studies in detail, including capital punishment, juvenile offending and domestic violence. Punishment highlights the problems and prospects of different approaches in order to argue for a more pluralistic and compelling perspective that is novel and ground-breaking.
This second edition has extensive revisions and updates to all chapters, including an all-new chapter on the unified theory substantively redrafted and new chapters on cyber-crimes and social media as well as corporate crimes. Punishment is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy, criminal justice, criminology, justice studies, law, political science and sociology.
Perhaps the least controversial issue for most commentators on Hegel’s political and legal philosophy concerns his theory of punishment. The orthodox consensus is that Hegel was a retributivist who justified punishing deserving criminals in order to ‘annul’ their crimes. Broadly speaking, the classic ‘positive’ view of retribution is that punishment can only be justified where deserved and to the degree it is deserved. In that light, some commentators have claimed Hegel is ‘one of the most famous and important retributivists’.
While they are often deeply divided on so many other issues in his philosophy, the orthodox consensus among Hegel scholars is no accident. Hegel offers us comments about punishment that support this interpretation. Hegel is clear that punishment is only justified where it is deserved by an offender for committing a crime. Punishment aspires to be a ‘cancellation’ of a crime and its ill-effects in a ‘restoration of right’ – restoring rights violated by a crime (PR, §99). Hegel says: ‘the cancellation [Aufheben] of crime is retribution’ (PR, §101). For most scholars, these well-known and widely cited passages make clear that Hegel understood his own theory of punishment as retributivist and it is such a theory. Allen Wood calls Hegel ‘a genuine retributivist’.
The orthodox consensus rests on a mistake. It fails to take sufficient account of Hegel’s distinctive form of argumentation that runs deep throughout his philosophical system, including his comments about punishment. Hegel did not present his system and its unique argumentative structure in the standard form we find with most modern philosophers – and it is easy to downplay or overlook this fact not least since Hegel’s dialectical form of argument is deeply controversial and seen as more of a problem for understanding Hegel’s views than enlightening us as to what his views are.
In the following sections, I offer a systematic reading of Hegel’s comments about punishment in his philosophical system with careful attention to his Philosophy of Right. I argue that the conventional reading which claims his theory of punishment is mostly confined to the section Abstract Right raises interpretive difficulties. One problem is the inadequacy of punishment as described in Abstract Right to be a complete theory of punishment so often overlooked. A second problem is accounting for apparent inconsistencies between what Hegel says in Abstract Right versus comments stated elsewhere in the Philosophy of Right and larger system. I argue that later sections like Ethical Life matter for our understanding Hegel’s penal theory and a systematic reading of his texts – where we consider his arguments in light of their systematic structure – can help make best sense of this. I conclude by reflecting on the implications this reading has for our understanding Hegel’s philosophy and its contemporary appeal.
Deryck Beyleveld has forged a theory of ethical rationalism that has made an important impact on legal and moral philosophy—that this collection of essays makes clear. He has not only refined and improved the original account developed by Alan Gewirth, but provides us with ethical rationalism’s most prolific defender today. One area of particular insight is Beyleveld’s many applications of ethical rationalism to practice and, most especially, to medical law and ethics which has been especially influential. This work has set the bar for all proponents and critics alike.
We focus narrowly on a specific concern that we have with ethical rationalism: its primacy of rationality over other characteristics, such as our emotions. This is not to deny the importance of reason in our thinking about law and ethical concerns. But we have concerns with any view that holds that reason is the only key to how any tensions should be resolved. Such a position claims for reason a privileged status it does not have or merit. One problem for us is that, in our view, ethical rationalism does not appear to adequately consider the importance of emotions and so it does not provide a satisfactory account of law and morality as a result. We examine this concern in the first part of our chapter.
This chapter’s second part raises concerns with the application of ethical rationalism as a model for understanding sexual offences. We highlight both the need to foreground emotion in order to understand the current law, as well as the dangers from a normative perspective of appearing to marginalise the role of emotion in sexual offences. Not only would a prioritisation of rationality fail to reflect the role emotion can play in current rape law, but we would argue, is particularly problematic in this area of law in terms of promoting justice. In summary, Beyleveld’s ethical rationalism exercises an important impact on legal theory and legal practices. Nonetheless, we raise some reservations about its connection to these impacts that lead us to support revisions to this approach.
Immigration receives widespread attention, but less attention is paid to the major increase in the number of people becoming British citizens. This book explains the immigration problems that modern UK citizenship was meant to solve, what the major challenges are today and how they can be met.
Thom Brooks examines the relationship between immigration and citizenship in order to challenge the popular and political myths that surround this topic. This is a must-read for anyone interested in UK citizenship, policy makers and anyone working in the area.
Ethical Citizenship rediscovers a significant and distinctive contribution to how we might understand citizenship today in the first full length examination of this topic. Ethical citizenship is a communitarian relationship between members of a community based around a shared conception of the common good first defended by British Idealists. This book explores its historical roots, contemporary relevance and application to international politics in an engaging work by leading international scholars bringing together theory and practice.
This anthology of original essays suggests new, groundbreaking applications of Rawls's work in multiple disciplines and contexts. Thom Brooks, Martha Nussbaum, Onora O'Neill (University of Cambridge), Paul Weithman (University of Notre Dame), Jeremy Waldron (New York University), and Frank Michelman (Harvard University) explore political liberalism's relevance to the challenges of multiculturalism, the relationship between the state and religion, the struggle for political legitimacy, and the capabilities approach. Extending Rawls's progressive thought to the fields of law, economics, and public reason, this book helps advance the project of a free society that thrives despite disagreements over religious and moral views.
Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment, offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. The first critical guide to examine all leading contemporary theories of punishment, this book explores – among others – the communicative theory of punishment, restorative justice, and the unified theory of punishment. Thom Brooks examines several case studies in detail, including capital punishment, juvenile offending, and domestic abuse. Punishment highlights the problems and prospects of different approaches in order to argue for a more pluralistic and compelling perspective that is novel and groundbreaking.
Preface. Introduction. Part I: General Theories 1. Retributivism 2. Deterrence 3. Rehabilitation 4. Restorative Justice Part II: Hybrid Theories 5. Rawls, Hart, and the ‘Mixed Theory’ 6. Expressivism 7. Unified Theory Part III: Case Studies 8. Capital Punishment 9. Juvenile Offenders 10. Domestic Abuse 11. Sexual Crimes. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index
Follow Thom on Twitter - @thom_brooks
"A welcome, well-executed and irresistible invitation to students and teachers both to engage critically and to advance in creative ways recent work in political philosophy on central topics of universal interest."
David A. Reidy, University of Tennessee, USA
"This volume provides an accessible and very engaging introduction to some of the most important debates in political theory by some of the finest young scholars working in the field. A valuable resource for undergraduate teaching and advanced researchers alike."
Christian Barry, Australian National University, Australia
"The Global Justice reader is an important work of our time. It means that we can chart the development of the idea of justice in terms of the themes that occupy our world today. This book is a great idea about a great idea."
Robert Imre, University of Notre Dame, Australia
"Thom Brooks′ The Global Justice Reader fills an urgent need for those who teach the philosophical dimensions of global issues, and their students. Brooks has pulled together an interesting and provocative set of articles, many of them classics in their fields. This book will set the benchmark against which others will be judged."
Stephen Gardiner, University of Washington
"This is both the broadest and the deepest selection of texts on morality beyond borders. Those looking for sharp analyses of crucial issues in global justice will find this collection clearly the best choice."
Leif Wenar, University of Sheffield
Product Description
The Global Justice Reader is a first–of–its kind collection that brings together key foundational and contemporary writings on this important topic in moral and political philosophy.
Brings together key foundational and contemporary writings on this important topic in moral and political philosophy
Offers a brief introduction followed by important readings on subjects ranging from sovereignty, human rights, and nationalism to global poverty, terrorism, and international environmental justice
Presents the writings of key figures in the field, including Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, Thomas Pogge, Peter Singer, and many others
Follow Thom on Twitter - @thom_brooks
Follow Thom on Twitter - @thom_brooks