Law and Nature

David Delaney is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought at Amherst.

• Acknowledgements; Part I. Situating Nature: 1. Introduction: the pragmatics of nature and the situation of law; 2. The nature of modern political discourse: doing things with nature; 3. The natures of scientific discourse; 4. The natures of legal discourse; 5. The natures of legal practice; Part II. Rendering Nature: 6. It's a slippery slope: law and the forces of nature; 7. Doctrinal wilderness and the path of interpretation: law and wilderness; 8. Wild justice and the endangerment of meaning: law and endangered species; 9. Puka's choice: law and animal experimentation; 10. Fear of falling: law and bestiality; 11. The births of nature and tradition: law and reproductive technologies; 12. Doctrinal mutations at the edge of meaning: law and genetic screening; 13. Return of the beast within: law and biological criminal defenses; 14. Controlling dreams: law and the involuntary medication of prisoners; Part III. Judging Nature: 15. Beyond 'nature': the material life of the legal; References; Index.

'This is an outstanding book, no doubt the product of a research project of great scope and sustained intellectual inquiry and creativity. With this book, David Delaney makes a significant contribution to the literature on the relationship between law and nature, indeed may even have carved out this area as his own. … eminently readable, he writes beautifully, with a clear purpose (rather than agenda), a light hand and confidence, without cliché, or even predictability.' Journal of Environmental Law