Adam Smith And Law

Introduction : law's invisible hands -- Setting the stage -- Social organization in the informal realm -- Social organization in the formal realm -- Integrating the informal and formal in Smith's theory -- The spectator view -- Judgment and justice -- The sentiment of common interest -- The impartial spectator, homo-economicus, and homo-identitas -- Understanding the four stages of progress -- Adam Smith in American law -- Parting thoughts.

Adam Smith and the Philosophy of Law and Economics is a unique book. Malloy and Evensky bring together a team of international and interdisciplinary scholars to address the work of Adam Smith as it relates to law and economics. In addition to their own contributions, the book includes works by Dr. John W. Cairns of the University of Edinburgh, Dr. J. Ralph Lindgren of Lehigh University, Professor Kenneth A.B. Mackinnon of the University of Waikato, and the Honorable Richard A. Posner of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. Together these authors bring expertise from the areas of law, philosophy, history, economics, and law and economics to a new study of Adam Smith and his work. Part One of the book presents new and important observations on Smith's views on community, ethics, the court system, criminal law, and delictual or tort law liability. In this part of the book Smith's work is also examined from the perspective of his use as persuasive authority in the works of modern legal economists. In Part Two the `living Smith' is explored by way of a debate between two major contributors in the field of law and economics. The debate and its analysis create a unique and contemporary opportunity to study Smith as a foundational source in the midst of a current academic and social policy dispute. The understanding of Adam Smith that emerges from this book is new and complex. It will challenge the one-dimensional portrayals of Smith as a promoter of self-interest and it will correct many of the misinterpretations of Smith that are currently fashionable in the worlds of law and economics and the philosophy of law.

This volume reproduces key works of scholarship which highlight the contributions of Adam Smith to our understanding of law and jurisprudence. Whereas many books explore Smith's contributions to economics, these previously published journal articles uniquely show how Smith connected jurisprudence to moral philosophy and to economics. The volume forms an essential research collection on Adam Smith and law, and contributions are reproduced in a form that permits the user to authoritatively cite the original publication.

Personal rights are such as can be claimed by a law-suit from a particular person, but not a quocumque possessore. Such are all debts and contracts, the payment or performance of which can be demanded only from one person. If I buy a horse and have him delivered to me, though the former owner sell him to another, I can claim him a quocumque possessore; but if he was not delivered to me I can only pursue the seller. Real rights are of four kinds, property, servitudes, pledges, and exclusive privileges.

A first comprehensive account of Adam Smith's jurisprudence demonstrates how his ideas developed out of, and in response to, Hume's theory of justice and includes the social and political thought expounded in his major writings.

This Handbook provides an accessible survey of the whole of Smith's thought with chapters written by leading experts that will allow all readers to gain a sense of the breadth and depth of the thought of this world historical figure.