Universal Standards for Defining Obscenity
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:31st Mar '25
£145.00
Supplier delay - available to order, but may take longer than usual.
In the existing literature, there is no universal standard for defining obscenity. The book aims to demonstrate that there indeed exist underlying universal standards for defining obscenity (USDOs). However, their application to different contexts of time, place, and culture, may legitimately result in varied manifestations.
The author examines a definition of obscenity proposed by the political and legal theorist Harry M. Clor, within John Finnis’ natural law theoretical framework. He also explores how positive law, including legislation, case law, and customary law, should respond to the proposed USDOs. The book addresses the theoretical foundation of the determination and regulation of obscenity, and it is supplemented with examples of legal practices from several jurisdictions, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany.
The book will appeal to scholars of legal philosophy, natural law theories, obscenity law, and free speech.
“CHENG Long’s insightful work applies New Natural Law theory and Harry Clor’s scholarship to develop a universal definition of obscenity. A groundbreaking contribution, it offers valuable guidance for jurists and scholars navigating the complexities of legal and philosophical inquiry. Highly recommended.”
Professor Stephen Hall, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
“At last a book that treats obscenity and pornography as harms and wrongs appropriate for a fully theorised analysis. Long Cheng’s deep-going treatment can be completed by identifying the relevant basic human (and social!) good (inadequately identified in my Natural Law and Natural Rights until its Postscript): marriage, the commitment of a man and a woman to a friendship of a kind suitable for procreation and upbringing of children—a commitment which marital sexual intercourse enables them to express, experience and actualise, provided they exclude from their imaginations any willingness to engage in non-marital sex—an exclusion undermined by the obscene and pornographic.”
Prof. John Finnis, University of Oxford and University of Notre Dame
ISBN: 9781041011026
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 500g
174 pages