The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory

by Golding, Martin P.; Edmundson, William A.

• ISBN13: 9780631228318
• ISBN10: 0631228314
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-11-15
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc

Summary

Written by an international assembly of distinguished philosophers and legal theorists, The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory brings into focus the central contemporary themes and issues in the area. Each of the 23 essays incorporates essential background material and advances key arguments. Topics include legal positivism, natural law theory, critical legal theory, American Legal Realism, feminist legal theory, criminal law, contract law, tort law, evidence, obligation, theories of rights, punishment, legal reasoning, objectivity, theories of law, continental perspectives on law, and many others.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors	vii
Introduction	1	(12)
William A. Edmundson
Part I Contending Schools of Thought	13	(92)
Natural Law Theory	15	(14)
Mark C. Murphy
Legal Positivism	29	(21)
Brian H. Bix
American Legal Realism	50	(17)
Brian Leiter
Economic Rationality in the Analysis of Legal Rules and Institutions	67	(13)
Lewis A. Kornhauser
Critical Legal Theory	80	(10)
Mark V. Tushnet
Four Themes in Feminist Legal Theory: Difference, Dominance, Domesticity, and Denial	90	(15)
Patricia Smith
Part II Doctrinal Domains and their Philosophical Foundations	105	(72)
Criminal Law Theory	107	(15)
Douglas Husak
Philosophy of Tort Law	122	(16)
Benjamin C. Zipursky
Contract Theory	138	(10)
Eric A. Posner
The Commons and the Anticommons in the Law and Theory of Property	148	(15)
Stephen R. Munzer
Legal Evidence	163	(14)
Alvin I. Goldman
Part III Perennial Topics	177	(108)
Legal and Moral Obligation	179	(12)
Matthew H. Kramer
Theories of Rights	191	(16)
Alon Harel
A Contractarian Approach to Punishment	207	(14)
Claire Finkelstein
Responsibility	221	(15)
Martin P. Golding
Legislation	236	(12)
Jeremy J. Waldron
Constitutionalism	248	(11)
Larry A. Alexander
Adjudication and Legal Reasoning	259	(12)
Richard Warner
Privacy	271	(14)
William A. Edmundson
Part IV Continental Perspectives	285	(28)
Continental Perspectives on Natural Law Theory and Legal Positivism	287	(13)
Jes Bjarup
Some Contemporary Trends in Continental Philosophy of Law	300	(13)
Guy Haarscher
Part V Methodological Concerns	313	(30)
Objectivity	315	(9)
Nicos Stavropoulos
Can There Be a Theory of Law?	324	(19)
Joseph Raz
Index	343