Publisher's Synopsis
This is the first book-length philosophical examination of rape, which has received ample attention from feminists, legal scholars and social scientists. In Part I the author clarifies the concept of rape, showing that there are at least three conceptions û conservative, liberal and radical û that correspond to contemporary political ideologies. These conceptions generate different views about the various aspects of rape law and inform the remainder of the work. In Part II the author, a licensed attorney as well as philosopher, provides a brief history of rape law, describing recent developments, trends and criticism. Part III is an investigation of various normative and conceptual issues that arise in connection with the law of rape, such as the wrongness of rape, defenses to rape, punishment of rapists and the controversial topics of date/acquaintance rape and rape-shield statutes. While the author does not hesitate to defend positions on these and other issues, his main objective throughout is to clarify and characterize the issues so as to facilitate more fruitful discussion of them both within and between disciplines.
