Research Handbook on Private Law Theory: (Research Handbooks in Legal Theory series)

This comprehensive Research Handbook provides an unparalleled overview of contemporary private law theory. Featuring original contributions by leading experts in the field, its extensive examinations of the core areas of contracts, property and torts are complemented by an exploration of a breadth of topics that cross the divide between private and public law, including labor law and corporate law. Beginning with a nuanced consideration of the ways in which the private/public distinction has been defined and discussed over time, the Research Handbook investigates and compares differing viewpoints on the concept of private law. Chapters explore key issues in the theory of private law from legal, economic, philosophical, political, feminist, historical and sociological perspectives, utilising a rich diversity of methodological approaches. The contributors also offer a variety of views on the future of private law and private theory. The Research Handbook on Private Law Theory will be an essential resource for legal thinkers, in particular scholars and graduate students working in any area of private law. Its varied perspectives on the subject will also be of interest to philosophers, political scientists, economists and sociologists.

Table of Contents:
Contents: 1 Introduction to Research Handbook on Private Law Theory : the distinction between private law and public law 1 Hanoch Dagan and Benjamin C. Zipursky PART I CONTRACTS 2 A joint maximization theory of contract and regulation 22 Robert E. Scott 3 Promise, agreement, contract 39 Gregory Klass 4 Public justice and private consent 58 Aditi Bagchi 5 Outline of a public justification of contract law 75 Peter Benson 6 Contract as collaboration 96 Daniel Markovits 7 Choice theory: a restatement 112 Hanoch Dagan and Michael Heller PART II PROPERTY 8 The architecture of property 134 Thomas W. Merrill and Henry E. Smith 9 Property as the law of complements 155 Lee Anne Fennell 10 Locke and private law 174 Emily Sherwin 11 Autonomy and property 185 Hanoch Dagan 12 The human flourishing theory 203 Gregory S. Alexander 13 Democratic property: things we should not have to bargain for 220 Joseph William Singer 14 Real property on the ground: the law of people and place 237 Sarah Blandy, Sarah Nield, and Susan Bright PART III TORTS 15 Corrective justice 255 Arthur Ripstein 16 Economic theory of tort law 270 Yotam kaplan 17 Fair precaution 286 Gregory C. Keating 18 Tort as yet another locus of gender injustice in the distribution of money 303 Anita Bernstein 19 Relational justice and torts 321 Avihay Dorfman 20 Folk tort law 338 Mark A. Geistfeld 21 Torts as wrongs and civil recourse theory 356 Benjamin C. Zipursky PART IV THE DOMAIN OF PRIVATE LAW: EXTENSION AND REFLECTION 22 Equity 373 Irit Samet 23 Corrective justice, unjust enrichment, and restitution 390 Anthony J. Sebok 24 The fall and rise of the private law of work 412 Cynthia Estlund 25 The corporation as a category in private law 429 Paul B. Miller and Andrew S. Gold 26 Private law and the rule of law 446 Lisa M. Austin 27 How are private wrongs possible? 462 Alan Brudner 28 The normative structuralism of corrective justice 484 Ernest J. Weinrib Index 499

About the Author :
Edited by Hanoch Dagan, Elizabeth J. Boalt Distinguished Professor of Law and Founding Director, Berkeley Center for Private Law Theory, University of California, Berkeley and Benjamin C. Zipursky, James H. Quinn '49 Chair in Legal Ethics and Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law, US

Review :
'Private law theory today is a powerful scholarly discourse; it can lift up the learning experience of students and teachers making sense of the thickets of our modern law; it can stimulate jurists to make lasting contributions to legal culture, practical ethics and the behavioural and political sciences; and it can inform the practical work of judges, advocates and legislators. This exemplary Handbook lucidly and expertly covers the methods, models and ideals projected by the best writers in the field.' 'This important new volume reflects the burgeoning of academic interest in private law theory over the past decade. Bringing together the leading scholars in their respective fields, this cutting edge Handbook is sure to become a standard reference that everyone writing and teaching in the areas of property, contracts and torts will want on their bookshelf.'