Publisher's Synopsis
Using real legal cases as well as an array of nonlegal sources ranging from Rousseau and Martin Luther to Shirley MacLaine and Willie Nelson, Farnsworth illustrates the importance of the principles that govern the irrevocability of a commitment (as by a promise) and the irreversibility of a relinquishment (as by a gift) or preclusion (as by prescription). He discusses deficiencies in the law-such as the preoccupation with the reliance principle, the neglect of other principles, the propensity to find promise, and the tendency toward legal paternalism-and offers suggestions to eliminate anomalies, correct shortcomings, and further the rationalization of the legal concepts that pertain to regretted decisions.