{"product_id":"bentham-and-the-common-law-tradition-9780198793052","title":"Bentham and the Common Law Tradition","description":"This work explores the relationship between Bentham's utilitarian practical philosophy and his positivist jurisprudence. These theories appear to be in tension because his utilitarian commitment to the sovereignty of utility as a practical decision principle seems inconsistent with his\u003cbr\u003epositivist insistence on the sovereignty of the will of the lawmaker. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTwo themes emerge from the attempt in this work to reconcile these two core elements of Bentham's practical thought. First, Bentham's conception of law does not fit the conventional model of legal positivism. Bentham was not just a utilitarian and a positivist; he was a positivist by virtue of his\u003cbr\u003ecommitment to a utilitarian understanding of the fundamental task of law. Moreover, his emphasis on the necessary publicity and the systemic character of law, led him to insist on an essential role for utilitarian reasons in the regular public functioning of law. Second, Bentham's radical critique\u003cbr\u003eof common law theory and practice convinced him of the necessity to reconcile the need for certainty of law with an equally great need for its flexibility. He eventually developed a constitutional framework for adjudication in the shadow of codified law that accorded to judges discretion to decide\u003cbr\u003eparticular cases according to their best judgment of the balance of utilities, guaranteeing the accountability and appropriate motivation of judicial decision-making through institutional incentives. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe original text of this work, first published in 1986, remains largely unchanged, but an afterword reconsiders and revises some themes in response to criticism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gerald J. Postema\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/30\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 576\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.60h x 5.80w x 1.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780198793052\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGerald J. Postema\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eProfessor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGerald J. Postema\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; a Guggenheim Fellow (2005-6); a Rockefeller Fellow, Bellagio (2001); and a Fellow of the Netherland Institute for Advanced Studies (1996-7). He has held visiting posts at the University of Cambridge, the European University Institute (Florence), the University of Athens, Yale University, and the University of California, Berkeley.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":39932108865651,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":125.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_f277d94d-24d1-496c-8af6-5a9cb324eaca.jpg?v=1647790150","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/bentham-and-the-common-law-tradition-9780198793052","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}