ABSTRACT
Since Stone called into question the ethical boundaries of forensic psychiatry (Stone 1984), a number of leaders in the eld have drawn on the principles of moral philosophy (the branch of philosophy concerned with ethical theories) to conceptualize and implement ethical guidelines and operational principles; in the process, an ethical framework for forensic psychiatry has gradually evolved (Appelbaum 1997). Although few of our colleagues are as knowledgeable in philosophical matters as Stone and Appelbaum, nonetheless, an appreciation of the basic concepts of legal philosophy will serve to enhance every forensic psychiatrist’s understanding of the history, development, and purposes of the legal institutions and practices that operate at the interface between psychiatry and the law. is process of exploring and charting the terra incognita of the law is bound to promote a greater degree of intellectual stimulation and satisfaction for the forensic practitioner, who applies psychiatric expertise to a rather specialized set of issues within the context of a system whose conventions and procedures may seem alien and mysterious to the nonlawyer.
