Self-Defense, Necessity, and Punishment

Uwe Steinhoff is Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong. He is the author of On the Ethics of War and Terrorism (2007), The Philosophy of Jürgen Habermas (2009), and On the Ethics of Torture (2013), and the editor of Do All Persons Have Equal Moral Worth? (2015).

• 1. Introduction2. Self-Defense (Understood as Including Other-Defense): Foundations3. Self-Defense: Special Cases (Innocent Attackers, Justified Attackers, and Non-Responsible Threats)4. Emergency Justifications (Including Necessity and Lesser Evil)5. Punishment and the Public Authority Justification

"Drawing on legal scholarship and moral argument, Steinhoff carefully analyzes the concept of self-defense and explains the scope and limits of the justified use of force in defense of self or others against attack. In the last quarter of the book, he applies these insights to punishment and to emergencies in which necessity justifies violating rights or established norms. Steinhoff is explicit about his moral methodology. He strives for clarity and precision, and his arguments are forceful and exacting . . . [His] insights and skilled argumentation make it well worth reading, and specialists will not want to miss it. Summing up: Highly recommended." -- CHOICE