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The Un-Easy Case For Technological Optimism, James E. Krier, Clayton P. Gillette

Articles

"Technological optimism" is a term of art, an article of faith, and a theory of politics. It is a view that pervades modem attitudes, yet gets little explicit attention. For a brief period the situation was otherwise. In the early 1970s, the optimistic outlook figured prominently in an important debate about nothing less than the future of the world. Technological optimism won. The outcome was unsurprising, given the nature of the argument. On one side of the debate was a group of self-proclaimed Malthusians who foresaw an impending period of stark scarcity unless relatively drastic remedial steps were quickly taken; …

Book Review Of Passion: An Essay On Personality , Richard F. Devlin Frsc

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Passion is a cogently structured, compel Jingly argued and seductively enthralling masterpiece which, in years to come, will undoubtedly stand out as an inspirational source for many who seek social transformation. Unger's style, in this essay at least, is lucid and inviting. Substantively, Passion demonstrates not only the depth of his penetrating intellect but also his command of an array of' disciplines. Unger's polymathy is all the more impressive when we remember that ours is an era in which idiosyncratic specialization is the norm.

Jurisprudence As Narrative: An Aesthetic Analysis Of Modern Legal Theory, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Recent legal scholarship has engaged in a growing dialogue tying literary criticism to jurisprudence. In this article, Professor Robin West adds her voice by advocating the reading of legal theory as a form of narrative. Drawing from Northrop Frye's “Anatomy of Criticism,” Professor West first details four literary myths that combine contrasting world visions and narrative methods. She then applies Frye's categories to Anglo-American jurisprudential traditions and employs aesthetic principles to analyze influential legal theorists within these traditions. Finally, Professor West argues that recognizing the aesthetic dimension of legal debate frees us to realize our moral ideals.

Authority, Autonomy, And Choice: The Role Of Consent In The Moral And Political Visions Of Franz Kafka And Richard Posner, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In "The Ethical and Political Basis of Wealth Maximization" and two related articles, Professor (now Judge) Richard Posner argues that widely shared pro-autonomy moral values are furthered by wealth-maximizing market transfers, judicial decisions, and legal institutions advocated by members of the "law and economics" school of legal theory. Such transactions, decisions, and institutions are morally attractive, Posner argues, because they support autonomy; wealth-maximizing transfers are those to which all affected parties have given their consent. This Article argues that Posner's attempt to defend wealth-maximization on principles of consent rests on a simplistic and false psychological theory of human motivation. Posner's …

Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech, Geraldine Ferraro

Campaign Materials

Copyright Fordham University School of Law. All Rights Reserved.

Maine's Ancient Law And Legal Theory, Stephen Utz

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Two Ideas Of International Organization, John H. Barton

Michigan Law Review

Political theory has long sought a philosophical basis for such ideas as law, authority, and freedom - but usually within the context of the nationstate. Only rarely has political theory placed the nation-state in an international framework; and, when it has tried, it has often done poorly. Sometimes the political theory becomes purely altruistic and utopian; at other times it works to support the irresponsibility of individual governments and the breakup of international order.

The Press And The Public Interest: An Essay On The Relationship Between Social Behavior And The Language Of First Amendment Theory, Lee C. Bollinger

Michigan Law Review

I would like to explore in this essay one aspect of the contemporary American debate over the theory of freedom of speech and press. The subject I want to address is this: whether the principle of freedom of speech and press should be viewed as protecting some personal or individual interest in speaking and writing or whether it should be seen as fostering a collective or public interest. Sometimes this issue is stated as being whether the first amendment protects a "right to speak" or a "right to hear," though in general the problem seems to be whether we should …

Geography And Law, Bernhard Grossfeld

Michigan Law Review

The central questions of comparative law are still unsolved: Which legal institutions in what legal cultures can be compared with each other in a meaningful way? What can we learn from comparative law for the solution of our own problems?

This Article will discuss the relations between geography and law. I have already discussed the subject of language and law elsewhere; with regard to religion and law, I refer the reader to the extensive writings of Harold Berman.

International Law As Law In The United States, Louis Henkin

Michigan Law Review

"International law is part of our law." Justice Gray's much-quoted pronouncement in The Paquete Habana was neither new nor controversial when made in 1900, since he was merely restating what had been established principle for the fathers of American jurisprudence and for their British legal ancestors. And Gray's dictum remains unquestioned today. But, after more than two hundred years in our jurisprudence, the import of that principle is still uncertain and disputed. How did, and how does, international law become part of our law? What does it mean that international law is a part of our law? What is the …

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California Regulatory Law Reporter

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California Regulatory Law Reporter

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The Fee Awards Act Of 1976: Examining The Foundation For Legislative Reform Of Attorney's Fees Shifting, 18 J. Marshall L. Rev. 77 (1984), Randall R. Rader

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

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California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Chemical Bank V. Washington Public Power Supply System: An Aberration In Washington's Application Of The Ultra Vires Doctrine, Grant Degginger

Seattle University Law Review

The Washington Supreme Court erred in Chemical Bank by misapplying the distinctions between primary and secondary ultra vires that it had articulated in Edwards v. City of Renton and reaffirmed in Noel. In the interest of consistent, fair, and logical results, the court will ultimately need to retreat from the very technical interpretation of primary ultra vires that it applied in Chemical Bank. Otherwise, the court may find itself splitting hairs over the exact scope of enabling legislation when the statutes and subsequent legislative acts manifest approval of the actions taken.

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California Regulatory Law Reporter

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Legal Theory And The Obligation To Obey, Philip E. Soper

Articles

Contributions to this symposium will undoubtedly share, with other recent discussions of the issue, the assumption that one does not need to decide what law is before deciding whether there is an obligation to obey it. More precisely, the assumption seems to be that our ordinary, pre-analytic understanding of "law" provides a completely adequate base for discussions about law's moral authority. The more refined disputes about the nature of law that dominate analytical jurisprudence can thus be ignored.

Retreat From The Right To Health Care: The President's Commission And Access To Health Care, John D. Arras

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legislative Formality, Administrative Rationality, Harold H. Bruff

Publications

No abstract provided.

Stream Flow Maintenance In Virginia, Timothy Hayes, Jeter M. Watson

University of Richmond Law Review

Increasing and conflicting uses of water have been widely heralded as one of the major environmental crises facing society. Below average rainfall in recent years has caused municipal water shortages in Virginia, particularly in the rapidly growing areas of the southeastern part of the state, evidence that water quantity problems are no longer a phenomenon peculiar to the western states. Generally, those in Virginia who advocate reallocation of water to areas of the state experiencing such shortages feel that the state has enough water, just not all in the correct places.

Taking Precedents In The Tidelands: Refocusing On Eminent Domain, W. Wade Beryyhill, Susan S. Williams

University of Richmond Law Review

"Buy land, they're not making any more," Will Rogers supposedly once recommended. If he did, then Will had never taken a good look at the shore: Over the years, millions of acres of tidelands have been dredged and filled, many to provide new recreational facilities and vacation homesites.

In Re Radical Interpretations Of American Law: The Relation Of Law And History, A. E. Keir Nash

Michigan Law Review

This Article centers instead upon assessing two types of legal analysis - non-Marxist radical interpretation and "non-reductionist" Marxist theory - which, despite conspicuous differences, share the belief that understanding the American historical experience is a prerequisite to understanding American law. Both approaches also share two other important convictions. One is that a "consensual" or "liberal pluralist" version of American history has little explanatory validity, at least in regard to such major problems as the political and legal breakdown represented by the Civil War, and the law's role in American economic development. They also agree that historical explanations which downplay discussion …

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California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

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California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

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California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

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California Regulatory Law Reporter

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Suicide And The Failure Of Modern Moral Theory, Donald H. Regan

Articles

The question I want to address is when and why suicide is morally wrong. There is something peculiar in my writing on this question at all. It will soon become apparent that although I think suicide involves genuine moral issues. I also think that the moral problem of suicide is a problem which most people answer correctly. That is, I think that in the vast majority of cases where people ought not to commit suicide, they do not. They are not even tempted. Conversely, most people who do commit suicide, or who want to, are either justified or at least …

Review Of Social Justice In The Liberal State, Donald H. Regan

Reviews

Bruce Ackerman's goal, in Social Justice in the Liberal State, is to provide a new foundation for liberal political theory. Ackerman is dissatisfied with both utilitarian and contractarian defenses of liberal political institutions. Indeed, he writes most persuasively when he is criticizing utilitarians and contractarians, though his criticisms are largely familiar.

Legal Theory And The Problem Of Definition, Philip E. Soper

Reviews

Natural Law and Natural Rights is a refreshingly direct book about some decidedly difficult matters. It is also a book that refuses to do homage to the complexity of its subject by limiting the topics covered. Here is virtually a mini-treatise in moral philosophy, with illuminating discussions on the whole range of human value and on a good part of the related range of metaethics, legal theory, political theory, and the problems of methodology in the descriptive social sciences.

Federal Injunctions And The Public Interest, Gene R. Shreve

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.