Preface
Xlll
PART ONE
ON TORTURE AND THE DEATH PENALTY
MICHAEL LEVIN
The Case for Torture
CESARE BONESANA Torture
FRANCIS BACON
Of Revenge
SISSEL SETERAS STOKES
Immoral
11
1
5
8
Capital Punishment Is
H. L. MENCKEN The Penalty of Death
13
JUSTICE WILLIAM BRENNAN Furman v. Georgia [Capital
Punishment Is Unconstitutional]
17
vi
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Contents
PART Two
ON ADULTERY AND MURDER
GORGIAS OF LEONTINOI Encomium of Helen
33
LYSIAS On the Murder of Eratosthenes: Defence
38
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE The Adventure of Black Peter
JOHN HENRY WIGMORE The Borden Case
SIGMUND FREUD
PART THREE
47
68
Human Nature Is Inherently Bad
84
ON POETRY, PROVERBS, AND
CHILDISH INSULTS
JOHN ENRIGHT What Is Poetry?
PETER FARB
Children's Insults
KENNETH BURKE
PART FOUR
87
90
Classifying Proverbs
92
ON EUTHANASIA AND ABORTION
JUDGE GAVIN K. LETTS
Justifiable]
97
Satz v. Perlmutter [Euthanasia Is
STEPHEN G. POTTS Looking for the Exit Door: Killing and
Caring in Modern Medicine
103
RONALD REAGAN Abortion and the Conscience of the
Nation
109
BARUCH BRODY Fetal Humanity and Brain Function
LAURENCE TRIBE Opposition to Abortion Is Not Based on
Alleged Rights to Life
126
MARY ANNE WARREN On the Moral and Legal Status of
Abortion
131
120
Contents _ _ vii
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PART FIVE
ON DINOSAURS, PERCEPTION, AND
TABLE MANNERS
STEPHEN JAY GOULD Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction
of Dinosaurs
143
MURDOCK PENCIL Salt Passage Research: The State of the
Art
153
T. G. R. BOWER The Visual World ofInfants
161
ALEXANDER PETRUNKEVITCH The Spider and the Wasp
PART SIX
169
ON EDUCATION
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU Children Should Not Be Reasoned
With
175
SHEILA TOBIAS
E. D. HIRSCH, JR.
Mathematics and Sex
178
Literacy and Cultural Literacy
189
CAROLINE BIRD
College Is a Waste of Time and Money
PART SEVEN
ON JUSTICE AND RIGHTS
199
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI On Cruelty and Clemency: Whether It
Is Better to Be Loved or Feared
213
THOMAS JEFFERSON The Declaration of Independence
HOSEA L. MARTIN A Few Kind Words for Affirmative
Action
222
LISA H. NEWTON Bakke and Davis: Justice, American
Style
226
217
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PART EIGHT
ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH, ECONOMIC
FREEDOM, AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION
JUSTICE LOUIS BRANDEIS New State Ice Co. v.
Liebmann [The Government May Prohibit
Competition]
231
HENRY HAZLITT Who's "Protected" by Tariffs?
248
STEVEN SCHLOSSSTEIN Professionalism Not Likely to Stop
Liberal Bias of Media
251
MICHAEL KINSLEY Bias and Baloney
254
ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ Shouting "Fire!"
PART NINE
258
ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
E. K. DANIEL Two Proofs of God's Existence
GEORGE H. SMITH
P ART TEN
God Does Not Exist
267
272
POVERTY, CRIME, AND GUN CONTROL
DON B. KATES, JR.
Handgun Bans: Facts to Fight With
281
JOHN HENRY SLOAN, ET AL Handgun Regulations, Crime,
Assaults, and Homicide: A Tale of Two Cities
291
DAVID RUBINSTEIN Don't Blame Crime on Joblessness
MICHAEL HARRINGTON Defining Poverty
Acknowledgments
317
313
309