Following a detailed examination of legal moralism, nongrievance evils, moral conservatism, autonomy and the community, exploitation with and without harm, the exploitation principle of preventing wrongful gain, and legal perfectionism, the author notes that his overriding concern is the tenability of liberalism to account for moral limits of the criminal law. He points out that the need to prevent evil is always relevant in support of criminal prohibitions. He defines liberalism as the view that harm and offense prevention is the best reason to support criminal prohibitions and the only one that frequently outweighs the case of liberty. A distinction is made between cautious and bold liberalism. The author discusses the "conservative thesis" which posits that the need to preserve traditional ways of life is valid ground for criminal prohibition. He also considers "perfectionism," the claim that criminalization can be justified to promote virtuous conduct and improve human character. 413 references, 11 figures.