Causation in Law (Second Edition)

Author: (USA) HART, (USA) O'NEILL, translated by ZHANG Shaofan, SUN Zuoquan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Causation in Law is an authoritative work that provides incisive discussions on the concept of causation in civil and criminal liability. It addresses important practical legal issues from a philosophical perspective. The book was first published in 1959 and revised in 1985. It has been translated into Japanese. Upon its release, it immediately attracted attention and has continued to pique the interest of philosophers and legal scholars over the following decades. The theoretical foundation of the book is that law often employs the concept of common-sense causation when determining legal liability. It clarifies the content of these concepts and connects them to figures such as Hume, Mill, Collingwood, and later MacKinnon. It reveals the non-causal standards used by legislators and courts in determining civil liability, contractual liability, and criminal liability, as well as the reasons behind their approach. In the concluding sections, it defends the central role of common-sense notions and critiques the extreme stances of causation minimalism and causation maximalism. The former equates causation with necessary conditions, while the latter treats causation as a sufficient and necessary condition for liability. It elucidates the fundamental principle that individuals are held accountable for their actions and their consequences, linking this principle to the identity and personal characteristics of the actor. The book not only provides a thorough analysis of the theory and practice of causation in the legal systems of common law countries but also conducts an insightful comparative study of the prevailing causation theories in civil law systems. It examines the role of causation in resolving legal liability from both substantive and procedural perspectives, exploring how causation issues should be appropriately raised in litigation and adequately proven.