This book is the first comprehensive study of the meaning and measure of enforceability. While we have long debated what restraints should govern the conduct of our social life, we have paid relatively little attention to the question of what it means to make a restraint enforceable. Focusing on the enforceability of legal rights but also addressing the enforceability of moral rights and social conventions, Mark Reiff explains how we use punishment and compensation to make restraints operative in the world. After describing the various means by which restraints may be enforced, Reiff explains how the sufficiency of enforcement can be measured, and he presents a unified theory of deterrence, retribution, and compensation that shows how these aspects of enforceability are interconnected. Reiff then applies his theory of enforceability to illuminate a variety of real-world problem situations.

Review of the hardback:'Mark Reiff's … [book] … is original. I intend this remark as high praise. … Since Reiff poses questions and provides answers that are new, any legal philosopher interested in these matters will be stimulated by his unusual perspective. … Reiff unquestionably has taken a novel approach to many important but frequently unaddressed problems in the philosophy of law.'

Douglas Husak Source: Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Review of the hardback:'Reiff’s book is as ambitious as it is important [and] as much a contribution to moral and political philosophy as to the philosophy of law.'

Michael Davis Source: Ethics