Richard A. Posner, The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory

Richard A. Posner, The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory, Harvard University Press, 1999.

Ambitious legal thinkers have become mesmerized by moral philosophy, believing that great figures in the philosophical tradition hold the keys to understanding and improving law and justice and even to resolving the most contentious issues of constitutional law. They are wrong, contends Richard Posner in this book. Posner characterizes the current preoccupation with moral and constitutional theory as the latest form of legal mystification–an evasion of the real need of American law, which is for a greater understanding of the social, economic, and political facts out of which great legal controversies arise. In pursuit of that understanding, Posner advocates a rebuilding of the law on the pragmatic basis of open-minded and systematic empirical inquiry and the rejection of cant and nostalgia–the true professionalism foreseen by Holmes a century ago.

A bracing book that pulls no punches and leaves no pieties unpunctured or sacred cows unkicked, The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory offers a sweeping tour of the current scene in legal studies–and a hopeful prospect for its future.

Table of Contents

PART 1: THE WRONG TURN

1. Moral Theory
Introduction: From Moral Realism to Pragmatic Moral Skepticism
Understanding Morality
The Academic Moralist and the Moral Entrepreneur
Professionalism’s Cold Grip

2. Legal Theory, Moral Themes
Jurisprudence and Moral Theory
Moral Theory Applied Directly to Law
Some Famous “Moral” Cases
Constitutional Theory

PART 2: THE WAY OUT

3. Professionalism
The Two Professionalisms
The Supersession Thesis

4. Pragmatism
The Pragmatic Approach to Law
Postmodernism Distinguished
Some Institutional Implications of Legal Pragmatism

Index