Criminological theory [Texte imprimé] : assessing philosophical assumptions / Anthony Walsh

Bibliogr. p. 181-203

Criminologists can benefit from questioning the underlying assumptions upon which they rest their work. Philosophy has the ability to clarify our thoughts, inform us of why we think about things the way we do, solve contradictions in our thinking we never knew existed, and even dissolve some dichotomies we thought were cast in stone. One of those dichotomies is free will vs. determinism. Criminology must reckon with both free will and agency, as posited by some theories, and determinism, as posited by others-including the ever more influential fields of genetics and biosocial criminology. This title examines philosophical concepts such as these in the context of important criminological theories or issues that are foundational but not generally considered in the literature on this topic

The Usefulness of Philosophy in Criminology -- Social Constructionism Versus Science in Criminology -- Relativism, Rationalism, Empiricism, and Paradigm Shifts -- Essentialism and Reductionism: Enemies or Friends? -- What is Real and How Do We Know? -- Materialism and Idealism: Structure versus Culture -- Conflict and Cooperation; Alienation and Equality -- Rationality and Emotion -- Right and Wrong: Conscience -- The Science Wars and Ideology in Criminology -- Ideology and Causation -- The Philosophy and Science of Human Nature -- Feminist Criminology and Contending Metaphysics -- Origins of the Intuition of Justice -- Punishment: Justifications and its Role in the Evolution of Justice