Law | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Bankruptcy Law In Perspective, Theodore Eisenberg Jun 1981

Bankruptcy Law In Perspective, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The new bankruptcy act is a failure. Its shortcomings show that we need to change the way we think about bankruptcy law. The problem is not so much with the new bankruptcy act's treatment of any specific issue, though larger problems manifest themselves through questionable specific provisions. Rather, the problem is the way in which bankruptcy law is perceived as an area separate from the rest of the legal world. In many respects the new bankruptcy act inadequately reflects bankruptcy law's existence as part of a legal structure that includes many other federal laws, a Constitution, and detailed treatment of …

Go to article

Pragmatic Instrumentalism In Twentieth Century American Legal Thought—A Synthesis And Critique Of Our Dominant General Theory About Law And Its Use, Robert S. Summers Jan 1981

Pragmatic Instrumentalism In Twentieth Century American Legal Thought—A Synthesis And Critique Of Our Dominant General Theory About Law And Its Use, Robert S. Summers

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Professor Fuller's Jurisprudence And America's Dominant Philosophy Of Law, Robert S. Summers Dec 1978

Professor Fuller's Jurisprudence And America's Dominant Philosophy Of Law, Robert S. Summers

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The late Lon L. Fuller played an influential role in the development of American jurisprudence, but his views have not always prevailed. In this tribute to the memory of Professor Fuller, Professor Summers outlines the major tenets of what he perceives to be our dominant philosophy of law – “pragmatic instrumentalism” – by way of contrasting that philosophy with the views of Professor Fuller. Professor Summers concludes that these two philosophies differ in many important respects and that our dominant philosophy of law should accommodate, and may indeed already be in the process of accommodating, the thought of Professor Fuller.

Go to article

Reflections On A Unified Theory Of Motive, Theodore Eisenberg Aug 1978

Reflections On A Unified Theory Of Motive, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

A Critique Of Professor Fried’S Anatomy Of Values, Robert S. Summers Jan 1971

A Critique Of Professor Fried’S Anatomy Of Values, Robert S. Summers

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

The New Analytical Jurists, Robert S. Summers Nov 1966

The New Analytical Jurists, Robert S. Summers

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

The Reapportionment Cases: Cognitive Lag, The Malady And Its Cure, E. F. Roberts, Paul T. Shultz Iii Mar 1966

The Reapportionment Cases: Cognitive Lag, The Malady And Its Cure, E. F. Roberts, Paul T. Shultz Iii

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The reapportionment cases have been considered by many to be the product of a liberal, activist Court which is endeavoring to reshape America’s political life according to its own views. The authors of this article assert that, to the contrary, the Court actually is reacting to the incontrovertible fact of the modern predominance of urban complexities which have rendered inappropriate our older political boundaries. In this sense, they consider the Court’s decisions conservative rather than liberal- because the Court’s purpose is to maintain a version of federalism along state boundaries which may have become outmoded even before the Court entered …

Go to article

Natural Law Demythologized: A Functional Theory Of Norms For A Revolutionary Epoch, E. F. Roberts Jan 1966

Natural Law Demythologized: A Functional Theory Of Norms For A Revolutionary Epoch, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Jurisprudence can afford us some insight into whether a particular system is functioning effectively. To do this jurisprudes must extrapolate the aims of the society and then evaluate how effectively its legal system functions to structure social activity so that those aims are realized in an orderly fashion. Jurisprudence is seen, therefore, to be a form of time and motion study on a grand scale. Judgments about the ultimate worth of a given society’s aims are excluded from jurisprudence, however, on the ground that such emotionally charged and ethically relative conclusions cannot be proved by any empirically verifiable scale of …

Go to article

A Brief Rejoinder To Professor Mullock, Robert S. Summers Jan 1965

A Brief Rejoinder To Professor Mullock, Robert S. Summers

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Mullock on Summers on Hart is bad enough, but Summers on Mullock on Summers on Hart is worse. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no rule (primary or secondary) entitling either of us to vouch Professor Hart into the proceedings. With all due respect to Professor Mullock (and to me, of course), I fear the two of us may be compounding erroneous interpretations of Professor Hart’s work. Sans Hart, I shall exercise admirable restraint and argue over the meaning of the scripture. Regrettably, Professor Mullock and I are both defenders of the faith; I had hoped to draw the fire of …

Go to article

Professor H.L.A. Hart's Concept Of Law, Robert S. Summers Oct 1963