Philosophical Foundations of Contract Law
Gregory Klass, George Letsas, and Prince Saprai
Abstract
In the last ten years, there has been a revival of interest in the philosophical study of contract law. Much of the discussion relates back to Charles Fried’s 1981 claim that contract law is based on the philosophy of promise, generating what is today known as “the contract and promise debate.” This volume taps into this renewal of interest by bringing together leading philosophers, legal theorists, and contract lawyers to discuss the philosophical foundations of this area of law. The first part of the book explores general themes in the contract theory literature, including the philosophy of ... More
In the last ten years, there has been a revival of interest in the philosophical study of contract law. Much of the discussion relates back to Charles Fried’s 1981 claim that contract law is based on the philosophy of promise, generating what is today known as “the contract and promise debate.” This volume taps into this renewal of interest by bringing together leading philosophers, legal theorists, and contract lawyers to discuss the philosophical foundations of this area of law. The first part of the book explores general themes in the contract theory literature, including the philosophy of promising, the nature of contractual obligation, economic accounts of contract law, and the relationship between contract law and moral values such as personal autonomy and distributive justice. The second part uses these philosophical ideas to make progress in doctrinal debates, relating for example to contract interpretation, unfair terms, good faith, vitiating factors, and remedies.
Keywords:
contract,
contract theory,
legal theory,
promise,
morality,
law and economics
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780198713012 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2015 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198713012.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Gregory Klass, editor
Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Centre
George Letsas, editor
Reader in Philosophy of Law and Human Rights, Faculty of Laws, University College London
Prince Saprai, editor
Lecturer, Faculty of Laws, University College London
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