ABSTRACT
This essay on Ernest Weinrib’s Reciprocal Freedom argues that his conceptions of correlativity and systematicity are at odds. Correlativity as he conceives it is inexplicably all-encompassing; it does not track the complexity of interpersonal fairness in either morality or law. Correlativity can be understood as a formal constraint or as a requirement of mutual justification. We do not have reason to treat it as the animating principle that shapes private law. Weinrib’s own concept of systematicity helps us to see why a system of private law that is oriented primarily to vindicating correlativity will always come up short. Systematicity requires that private law work in harmony with the rest of the legal system to promote the principles of justice to which our political community is committed. Systematicity is more demanding than Weinrib allows. The ex post and ad hoc process by which private right is acclimated to public right, in Weinrib’s account, will not suffice to realize systematicity.
Aditi Bagchi, From Private to Public Right: Resizing Correlativity and Systematicity, Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence. Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 December 2025.
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