Sex and Self-Ownership - Essays on Consent and the Criminal Law

Sex and Self-Ownership re-examines the legal category of 'the exculpatory mistaken belief in consent' in the law of sexual offences. Wall argues in favour of narrowing this category and proposes law reform consistent with the criminal law's retributive morality and principles of criminalization.

List of contents

• 1: The Problem with Sex in General


• 2: A Prop in Someone Else's Fantasy


• 3: Choice Under Pressure


• 4: That Was Then, This Is Now


• 5: General Reasons Not to Have Sex


• 6: Justifying and Excusing Sex


• 7: The Expressive Consent Dilemma


• 8: I Don't Know About You


• Conclusion

About the author

Jesse Wall is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Auckland. He has previously held academic positions at Merton College, University of Oxford, and the University of Otago. Jesse completed his postgraduate qualifications at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he was studying as a Rhodes Scholar, completing the BCL, and then writing his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Herring. As an undergraduate at the University of Otago, Jesse studied toward a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Philosophy. Sex and Self-Ownership is Jesse's second monograph, after Being and Owning (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Summary

Sex and Self-Ownership re-examines the legal category of 'the exculpatory mistaken belief in consent' in the law of sexual offences. Wall argues in favour of narrowing this category and proposes law reform consistent with the criminal law's retributive morality and principles of criminalization.

Product details

• Authors: Dr Jesse (Associate Professor Wall, Jesse Wall
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 22.10.2025
• EAN: 9780198876267
• ISBN: 978-0-19-887626-7
• No. of pages: 256
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Social sciences, law, business > Law > International law, foreign law; LAW / Criminal Law / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sexual Abuse & Harassment, PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Criminal law & procedure, Sexual abuse & harassment, Ethics & moral philosophy, Ethics and moral philosophy, Sexual abuse and harassment, Criminal law: procedure and offences, Jurisprudence & Philosophy Of Law, Methods, theory and philosophy of law