"This book combines a careful philosophical discussion of the rationale justifying self-defence together with detailed discussions of the range of statutory self-defence requirements, as well as discussions of numerous other relevant issues (i.e., putative self-defence, excessive self-defence, earlier guilt, battered women). The book argues that before formulating definitions for each aspect of self-defence (necessity, proportionality, retreat, immediacy, mental element, etc.) it is imperative to determine the proper rationale for self-defence and, only then, to derive the appropriate solutions."--BOOK JACKET.