This collection grew out of a series of lectures given in France by noted French philosopher Paul Ricoeur on the nature of justice and the law. The essays repre... » 

This collection grew out of a series of lectures given in France by noted French philosopher Paul Ricoeur on the nature of justice and the law. The essays represent a reflection on the relation between the concept of the juridical--as embedded in written laws, tribunals, judges, and verdicts--and the philosophical concept of right, situated between moral theory and politics. Ricoeur argues that in political philosophy the question of right is obscured by the haunting presence of historical evil, however, in a philosophy of right, the leading theme is peace. Ricoeur revisits the work of Plato, Aristotle, and Kant in his engagements with contemporary thinkers, particularly John Rawls, Michael Walzer, Hannah Arendt, and Ronald Dworkin. His thought ranges from conceptual analysis, to the theory of law, and finally to the act of judging, exploring the ideas of sanction, rehabilitation, pardon, and the status of conscience in relation to the demands of the law. «