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Two Victorian Era movements affected American legal thought: Darwinian natural selection and marginalist economics. Darwinism emphasized instinct and random selection. Marginalism emphasized rational choice. Notwithstanding profound differences in the assumptions and methodologies of these movements, legal theory accommodated both.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Part I Human Nature and the Sources of Law
- Chap. 1. Scarcity, Biology and the Rational Actor
- Chap. 2. Natural Selection, Deterrence and Mental Defect
- Chap. 3. The Science and Law of Race
- Part II. Neoclassical Legal Thought
- Chap. 4. Economics and Law in the Progressive Era
- Chap. 5. Social Value, Taxation and Public Finance
- Chap. 6. From Institutionalism to Legal Realism
- Chap. 7. Recasting the Common Law: the Management of Risk and Relationship
- Part III. The Neoclassical Firm and the Formation of Modern Business Policy
- Chap. 8. The Revolution in Corporate Finance
- Chap. 9. The Separation of Ownership and Control
- Chap. 10. The Twisted Path to Innovation Policy
- Chap. 11. Structuralism in Competition Policy
- Chap. 12. Distribution and Vertical Control
- Part IV. Neoclassical Public Law
- Chap. 13. The Substantive Due Process Triumvirate: Health, Safety and Morals
- Chap. 14. The Waning of Classical Labor Policy
- Chap. 15. The Regulatory State and Federalism
- Epilogue: The New Deal at Bay
About the author
Herbert Hovenkamp is the Ben V. & Dorothy Willie Professor of Law and History, University of Iowa, where he teaches antitrust, torts, American legal history, and innovation policy. He has written numerous books in the these areas, and is the author of Antitrust Law, the leading resource in that field. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Summary
Two Victorian Era movements affected American legal thought: Darwinian natural selection and marginalist economics. Darwinism emphasized instinct and random selection. Marginalism emphasized rational choice. Notwithstanding profound differences in the assumptions and methodologies of these movements, legal theory accommodated both.
Additional text
It is not often that a book offers a broad intellectual history of how the social sciences influence the development of law and legal thought. However, this is exactly what Professor Hovenkamp does in his latest book about the intellectual history of American law. Overall, this book would be a very useful complement to courses on comparative law, antitrust, and law and economics courses.
