Punishment and Freedom The Rabbinic Construction of Criminal La [Hardcover]

InPunishment and Freedom, Devora Steinmetz offers a fresh look at classical rabbinic texts about criminal law from the perspective of legal and moral philosophy. Steinmetz holds that the criminal and judicial procedures they describe were never designed to be applied in a real state. Rather, these texts deal with broader philosophical, theological, and ethical conceptions of the law.

Through close readings of passages describing criminal procedure and punishment, Steinmetz argues that the Rabbis constructed an extreme positivist view of sinaitic law based in divine command. This view of law is related to a conception of the human being as fully free and responsible. Steinmetz contrasts this philosophy with the reflections on law in the Pauline letters and argues that the Rabbis see their own view of law as a key marker of Jewish identity that is tied to the rabbinic notion that human beings are charged with shaping the world and their own destiny.

Punishment and Freedomis a valuable guide through talmudic discourse for scholars of Jewish thought, early Christianity, and legal philosophy.

Note on Transliteration
Preface

Chapter 1.Heneqand the Nature of Law
Chapter 2. Noachide Law
Chapter 3. Legal Principles and Prohibitions
Chapter 4. Murder and the Social Response to Wrongdoing
Chapter 5. And Live by Them : Paul and the Rabbis
Chapter 6. Law, Responsibility, and Transformation

Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments

Punishment and Freedomoffers a fresh look at classical rabbinic texts about criminal law from the perspective of legal and moral philosophy, arguing that the Rabbis constructed an extreme positivist view of law that is based in divine command and that is related to the rabinnic notion notion of human freedom and responsibility.

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