Law and Objectivity

by Greenawalt, Kent

• ISBN13: 9780195098334
• ISBN10: 0195098331
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-06-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In modern times the idea of the objectivity of law has been undermined by skepticism about legal institutions, disbelief in ideals of unbiased evaluation, and a conviction that language is indeterminate. Greenawalt here considers the validity of such skepticism, examining such questions as: whether the law as it exists provides determinate answers to legal problems; whether the law should treat people in an "objective way," according to abstract rules, general categories, and external consequences; and how far the law is anchored in something external to itself, such as social morality, political justice, or economic efficiency. In the process he illuminates the development of jurisprudence in the English-speaking world over the last fifty years, assessing the contributions of many important movements.

Author Biography

Kent Greenawalt, University Professor at Columbia University, has been Cardozo Professor of Jurisprudence at Columbia University Law School

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
Legal Rules and Determinate Answers to Legal Questions
The Import of Normative Language and Rules--Nonlegal Illustrations	p. 11
Determinate Applications of Legal Rules	p. 34
Determinate Answers Under General Statutory and Constitutional Standards and Principles of Common Law	p. 59
Law's Determinacy in Light of General Theories of Prediction, Rule Following, and Interpretation	p. 68
How the Law Treats People
Standards of Judgment: External or Internal, Personal or Reasonable	p. 93
Fairness in Classification	p. 121
The Generality of Law	p. 141
Law's Relation to Broader Sources That Make It Objective in Various Respects
Law's Relation to Cultural Morality, Economic Efficiency, and Sound Political Morality	p. 163
Objectivity in Legal Reasoning	p. 193
Correct Answers to Legal Questions	p. 207
Conclusion	p. 233
Notes	p. 237
Bibliography	p. 275
Index	p. 281
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