This book offers a philosophical interpretation of the historical debate between Bentham and classical Common Law Theory, a debate that is fundamental to philosophical thought and has shaped contemporary conceptions of nature, tasks, and limits of law and adjudication. The author draws on the full range of Bentham's published and unpublished writings, and explores the philosophical foundations of Common Law theory, focusing particularly on the writings of Sir Matthew Hale and David Hume.
| ISBN | 0198256515 | | DEWEY edition | DC19 | | ISBN13 | 9780198256519
(What's this?) | | Pages | 506 | | Publisher | Oxford University Press | | Weight (grammes) | 675 | | Imprint | Clarendon Press | | Published in | Oxford | | Format | Paperback | | Series title | Clarendon Paperbacks | | Publication date | 12 Jan 1989 | | Height (mm) | 210 | | Non-book description | xx488 | | Width (mm) | 130 | | Library of Congress | K588 | | Spine width (mm) | 28 | | DEWEY | 340.5701 | | Academic level | Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly |
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Part 1 Law, custom and reason: elements of classical Common Law theory; law, social union and collective rationality; Hume's jurisprudence - law, justice and human nature, common law conventionalism. Part 2 Bentham's critique of Common Law - the roots of positivism: utilitarian justice and the tasks of law; Bentham as a Common Law revisionist; custom, rules and sovereignty; plucking off the mask of mystery; utilitarian positivism. Part 3 Law, utility and adjudication: the judge as "paterfamilias"; judicial virtues and the sanctions of public opinion; utilitarian adjudication within the shadow of the code; the coherence of Bentham's Theory of Law.
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