Overview
Who, or what, is a 'person' according to the law? How did this understanding of personhood come about? In the twenty-first century, environmentalism, animal rights, artificial intelligence, and corporate personhood have compelled us to consider these questions once again. Legal personhood is a foundational concept of Western legal thought and A Theory of Legal Personhood seeks to go beyond contemporary debates, challenging our very understanding of legal personhood itself. Drawing on extensive research, scholarship, legislation, and court cases from around the globe, this book offers readers -- with or without previous knowledge -- new insights into legal personhood. It scrutinizes how personhood came to be understood synonymously with the holding of legal rights. It then posits that a better understanding of legal personhood is as a cluster property. Finally, it applies this new theory to explain and structure the numerous debates surrounding legal personhood.
Full Product Details
Author: Visa Aj Kurki (University of Helsinki)
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Imprint: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780191879708
ISBN 10: 0191879703
Publication Date: 19 September 2019
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Undefined
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
This book has arrived at a most opportune time. As courts and legislatures around the world are discussing the concept of 'legal personhood' in relation to entities such as the natural environment, nonhuman animals, artificial intelligence and human foetuses, there is urgent need for clarity on what the concept means. Dr Kurki's book offers the most comprehensive analysis of this subject in a decade. Orthodoxies are critiqued, a new account of personhood is propounded and its practical implications are explored in a rigorous yet accessible manner. Essential reading for scholars and lawyers alike who have an interest in the topic. - Dr Joe Wills, University of Leicester
"""This book has arrived at a most opportune time. As courts and legislatures around the world are discussing the concept of 'legal personhood' in relation to entities such as the natural environment, nonhuman animals, artificial intelligence and human foetuses, there is urgent need for clarity on what the concept means. Dr Kurki's book offers the most comprehensive analysis of this subject in a decade. Orthodoxies are critiqued, a new account of personhood is propounded and its practical implications are explored in a rigorous yet accessible manner. Essential reading for scholars and lawyers alike who have an interest in the topic."" - Dr Joe Wills, University of Leicester"
Author Information
Visa AJ Kurki, Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Helsinki Dr Visa AJ Kurki is an Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Fellow at the Law Faculty of the University of Helsinki. He received his PhD in 2017 from the University of Cambridge. Kurki has published on legal personhood, rights theory, and animal law. He is also vice president of the Finnish Society for Legal Philosophy.
