Jurisprudence, Text and Readings on the Philosophy of Law

George C. Christie, Duke University School of Law

Patrick H. Martin, Louisiana State University Law Center

Adam J. MacLeod, St. Mary's University School of Law

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Table of Contents

A List of Major Changes in the Fourth Edition

1. All chapters have been updated with new readings, cases, notes and references to current books and articles related to the topics and authors.

2. Chapter 1, Introduction, has been lightly revised to reflect science and human behavior.

3. Chapter 2, The Beginnings of Legal Thought, incorporates recent scholarship drawing parallels between ancient practices and the modern need to provide authenticity and public accessibility to the law and to preserve that law for future generations. New sources on Aristotle are cited and discussed. The treatment of Law and Literature has been expanded, including reference to film culture and law. A discussion of Billy Budd reflects on Melville’s familiarity with the court martial of Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie for the USS Somers affair.

4. Chapter 3, on Natural Law, has been expanded to include discussion of Locke’s contemporary, Matthew Hale, updated as to Professor John Finnis’s work and contemporary influence, and includes additional notes on recent developments, such as the growth of interest in law and neuroscience (neurolaw).

5. Chapter 4, on Natural Rights, has been significantly expanded and revised with the addition of recent Supreme Court cases, including Miller v. Alabama (2012), Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), and Pavan v. Smith (2017), together with an extended discussion of the European Adjudication of Natural/Human Rights. Throughout, the notes and references have been updated for new sources.

6. Chapter 5, Rise of Legal Positivism, has been updated to discuss newer scholarship on Hobbes, Hume and Bentham. The chapter now incorporates several excerpts from Charles Dickens’s novel Hard Times, to illustrate a literary treatment and critique of Bentham’s (and Mills’s) Utilitarianism. In a reflection on the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, a reading on Utilitarian ethical questions on allocation of medical resources has been included.

7. Chapter 6, Analytical Positivism, has been revised to incorporate recent scholarship on each of the authors whose writings are excerpted as well as developments related to the Note on Fiji Islands v. Prasad. There is new discussion of the Hart-Dworkin Debate and related sources pertaining to it.

8. Chapter 7, Reform and Realism, has been revised to incorporate recent scholarship on each of the authors whose writings are excerpted and the related topics addressed in the chapter. Several of the readings have been shortened or excised and the notes and comments expanded. Included is a new Note on New Legal Realism.

9. Chapter 8, Legal Reasoning and Judicial Process, has been almost completely revised. It features a lengthy discussion of linguistics and interpretative processes with a focus on Judicial, Statutory and Contractual Norms, using “gross negligence” as an example. The chapter explores Canons of Interpretation/Construction and Textualism, using Yates v. U.S. (2015) as illustrative. A examination is given of “Departments of Interpretation,” including the different approaches to interpretation of agreements relating to contract and property (the Numerus Clausus principle). Analogical reasoning is taken up with Adams v. New Jersey Steamboat Co. (N.Y. 1896). Readings on Legal Process and by Edward Levi, Ronald Dworkin and Richard Posner are retained. A Note on Arbitration and ADR has been added.

10. Chapter 9, Critical Strategies, has been revised to incorporate recent scholarship on Critical Legal Studies, Feminism, and Critical Race Theory. An entirely new section on Intersectionality and gender identity theories, with relevant readings, notes and comments. The topics related to Law and Economics formerly covered in this chapter have been moved to a new Chapter 10.

11. Chapter 10, Economic and Legal Concepts, incorporates material new to this edition. The subject matter is divided into sections on Law and Economics, Behavioral Law and Economics, and New Private Law Theories. As seen in a proliferation of private law scholarship now performed at elite institutions and published by major university presses, private law theory has moved back into the mainstream of academic work in legal theory. Two readings on Property and Tort reflect the new prominence of private law theory in Jurisprudence.

Learn more about this series.