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Torts

2007

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Torts Rationales, Pluralism, And Isaiah Berlin, Christopher J. Robinette Dec 2006

Torts Rationales, Pluralism, And Isaiah Berlin, Christopher J. Robinette

Christopher J Robinette

Most modern torts scholars adopt a monistic view of torts, arguing that the tort system can be justified or explained by reference to a single rationale. In contrast, few torts pluralists, scholars believing the tort system is based on multiple rationales, have put forward a general theory or framework for tort law.

A pluralistic view of the tort system poses significant questions about the relationship among the rationales. Do the rationales work together as a seamless whole? Do the rationales conflict? If they conflict, how does one choose among them? Does the entire system devolve into adjudicative relativism, whereby a …

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The Myth Of Individualism And The Appeal Of Tort Reform, Martin A. Kotler Dec 2006

The Myth Of Individualism And The Appeal Of Tort Reform, Martin A. Kotler

Martin A. Kotler

This Article examines the relationship between the American political culture of individualism and long-standing, well-established tort doctrine. Although much of the doctrine in the abstract is obviously reflective of the prevailing political culture, there remains a certain ambivalence. Thus, when judges and jurors are faced with deciding concrete cases before them, they frequently abandon their professed commitment to mythological notions of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility and find the injured plaintiff to be entitled to compensation.

The modern American tort reform movement’s recognition of this ambivalence underlies the essential strategy for reform. The reformers’ goals are more far reaching than the …

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