Contract As Promise

'Contract as Promise' is a study of the foundations and structure of contract law. It has both theoretical and pedagogic purposes. It moves from trust to promise to the nuts and bolts of contract law. The author shows that contract law has an underlying unifying moral and practical structure. This second edition retains the original text, and includes a new Preface. It also includes a lengthy postscript that takes account of scholarly and practical developments in the field over the last thirty years, especially the large and rich law and economics literature.

The book offers a careful philosophical investigation of the similarities and the much-overlooked differences between contract and promise.

Essays addressing a variety of issues in the theory and practice of contract law.

This book has two purposes: a theoretical purpose, to show how a complex legal institution, contract, can be traced to and is determined by a small number of basic moral principles; and a pedagogic purpose, to display for students the underlying structure of this basic legal institution. The author argues that that the promise principle - that principle by which persons can impose upon themselves obligations where none existed before - is the moral basis of contract law.

The 17 essays of this collection explore key philosophical questions underlying the institution of contract, and the philosophical issues arising in specific contract law doctrines, including contract formation, contract interpretation, unfair terms, the principle of good faith, defences, and remedies.

Contracts: The Law of Promises is a casebook for first-year contracts courses. Its emphasis is on presenting contract law in an easily understandable way so students can spend most of their time mastering the application of the rules, rather than seeking to discover the rules. The casebook includes an appendix with the most important black letter rules and over 600 examples throughout the book showing how the rules are applied. Before each case, textual material explains the law and its application, with further emphasis on explaining each of the elements of the doctrine being discussed. Key points and chapter "takeaways" are included to help students know if they are recognizing which principles are particularly important. Cases have been chosen based on the clarity of the court's analysis and have been abridged to exclude irrelevant material. The cases included provide for interesting classroom discussions, but classic cases have been retained as well. Numerous problems are included, typically based on real cases, so that professors can use them in class to further students' understanding of how the rules are applied. Common student mistakes are also highlighted. Theory is covered, but kept to a minimum. Contracts: The Law of Promises will enable students to come to class with a firm grasp of the black letter law and a general understanding of how the rules are applied, enabling professors to devote more class time to discussion and less time to lecturing. The second edition includes expanded coverage of electronic contracting and explanations of the 2022 amendments to Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code and the 2022 Restatement of Consumer Contracts. Core Knowledge for Lawyers content for this book will be available in Fall 2024.

Promises and Contract Law is the first modern work to explore the significance of promise to contract law from a comparative legal perspective. Part I explores the component elements of promise, its role in Greek thought and Roman law, the importance of the moral duty to keep promises and the development of promissory ideas in medieval legal scholarship. Part II considers the modern contract law of a number of legal systems from a promissory perspective. The focus is on the law of England, Germany and three mixed legal systems (Scotland, South Africa and Louisiana), though other legal systems are also mentioned. Major topics subjected to a promissory analysis include formation of contract, third party rights, contractual remedies and the renunciation of contractual rights. Part III analyses the future role which promise might play in contract law, especially within a harmonised European contract law.

The Choice Theory of Contracts is an engaging landmark that shows, for the first time, how freedom matters to contract.