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Capital Punishment In Recent Literature -- Jaques Derrida, Robert Sanger
Capital Punishment In Recent Literature -- Jaques Derrida, Robert Sanger
Robert M. Sanger
The University of Chicago Press has just published The Death Penalty, Volume One (The Seminars of Jacques Derrida) translated by Peggy Kamuf. They are the lectures of the late continental philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) on capital punishment. Derrida is the author of deconstruction (if deconstruction were allowed to have an author) and has a reputation for being, let us say, opaque in his writings.
In his later years, he took up certain legal and political issues in a fashion that seems more intelligible. Particularly, Derrida’s lectures on moral subjects were popular in the United States as well as Europe. The …
The Limits Of Game Theory On Important Legal Issues, Robert Sanger
The Limits Of Game Theory On Important Legal Issues, Robert Sanger
Robert M. Sanger
Political strategists often talk in terms of targeting the “persuadable middle.” This term is used regarding volatile issues like same-sex marriage, war, or the death penalty. It is a core feature of undergraduate “game theory” classes taught within Economics departments but it is also a concept that has become a staple of political campaign consultants.
The “persuadable middle” concept is severely flawed in practice. Recent scholarly research has shown that the very fact of utilizing economic “game theory” and concepts like the “persuadable middle” has unintended consequences. By staying away from moral discourse in potentially volatile debates and focusing instead …