Category Archives: Deontology and Moral Responsibility
Rodrigo Pablo Pérez, ‘Water Jurisprudence, Property Rights and Catholic Thought’
ABSTRACT This chapter contributes to the study and development of a water law jurisprudence based on Christian principles. It proposes that Catholic social thought can ground a workable system of water law that harmonises property rights in water with the human right to water, other beings’ access to water, and water protection. This thesis is […]
Peter Chau, ‘Tort Law and Contractualism’
ABSTRACT How can tort law be justified? There are well-known difficulties with the three traditional theories of tort law dominating the literature (namely, economic theory, corrective justice theory, and civil recourse theory). Recently, some have turned to moral contractualism in search of tort law’s foundation. One of the most prominent attempts was made by Gregory […]
Philip Petrov, ‘The Physical-Emotional Distinction in Tort’
ABSTRACT Several legal scholars have recently argued that US tort law’s physical-emotional distinction commits tort to the objectionable position of mind-body dualism, but they have not considered the distinction’s role as an aid to judicial cognition and decision-making. Drawing primarily on the law of negligent infliction of emotional distress, this essay argues that tort’s physical-emotional […]
Alan Brudner, ‘The Rise and Fall of Private Law – Reciprocal Freedom: Private Law and Public Right (Ernest J Weinrib)’
Reciprocal Freedom: Private Law and Public Right, Ernest J Weinrib. In Reciprocal Freedom, Ernest Weinrib brings the ideas he introduced in The Idea of Private Law to a consummate precision, while situating them within a comprehensive liberal republic ordered to freedom in its several meanings. As those familiar with Weinrib’s work will know, his theory […]
Irit Samet, ‘On Trusts, Hypocrisy and Conscience’
ABSTRACT In this paper, I suggest that taking seriously the way in which the trust is founded on a duty of conscience has far-reaching ramifications for the appropriate attitude towards new forms of trusts that are designed to allow people to enjoy the benefits of ownership without incurring the duties that come with it. The […]
Bregant, Robbennolt and Winship, ‘Settlementality’
ABSTRACT Is settlement of litigation good or bad for the legal system? Should we have more or less of it? Should settlement have a private or public purpose? Legal scholars and lawyers have considered these questions for decades, but very little is known about the views of ordinary people. This Article reports results from a […]
John Oberdiek, ‘Wrongs, Remedies, and the Persistence of Reasons: Re-Examining the Continuity Thesis’
ABSTRACT The ‘continuity thesis’ is one of Gardner’s signal contributions to tort theory. It holds that the reasons justifying one’s primary duties persist even after one breaches the duties they justify, reasserting themselves by grounding secondary duties of redress. The continuity thesis has been enormously influential but it also has attracted criticism. Perhaps the most […]
Goold and Simon, ‘On Copyright Utilitarianism’
ABSTRACT Utilitarians typically argue that the state should grant copyright to authors only when doing so promotes utility. In recent years, however, this argument has faced three criticisms. As a normative matter, critics argue that a utilitarian copyright system is neither just nor attractive. As an epistemological matter, critics argue that society cannot ever know […]
Duus-Otterström and Page, ‘Defeating Wrongdoing: Why Victims of Unjust Harm Should Take Priority over Victims of Bad Luck’
ABSTRACT It is sometimes suggested that victims of unjust harm should take priority over victims of other forms of harm. We explore four arguments for this view: that victims of unjust harm experience greater suffering; that prioritizing victims of unjust harm would help prevent unjust harm in the future; that it is good for perpetrators […]
Irina Sakharova, ‘(Mis)Understanding Correlativity in Contractual Relations’
ABSTRACT This article challenges the orthodox explanation of the normative connection between contracting parties: The promisee is regarded as having a superior position vis-à-vis the promisor, a position manifesting itself in the promisee’s authority or control over the promisor’s performance, and supported, in particular, by the promisee’s supposed power, or at least some sort of […]