JSI Seminar | Realism and formalism in private law
Paul B. Miller delivers the next JSI seminar in the series, "Realism and formalism in private law".
JSI Seminar | Realism and formalism in private law
In-person event
For the past several decades, realists and formalists have been deeply at odds. They have, however, mostly been talking past one another, with each side trading in caricature of the other. In this article, I aim to show the benefits of a more tempered approach; in my case, the approach of a formalist to realist thought.
I closely examine the unreconstructed legacy of realist thought, focusing on realist ideas that have proven especially influential. Along the way, I uncover some surprising affinities and compatibilities between realist and formalist thought. Acknowledging that it is hard to take the measure of realism, I argue that we can credit it with eight important ideas about law. For each of these, I also locate correlative unsound ideas.
That these pairings of ideas—sound and unsound—travel together has made it difficult to understand and to critically evaluate realism. This, in turn, has made it difficult for realists and formalists to join one another in productive debate. It is all too easy for those sympathetic to realism to see only the sound ideas, or to be swayed by rhetorically powerful expression of unsound ones. Likewise, it has been all too easy for formalists to see only the unsound ideas. This article aids in the disentanglement of the many strands of realist thought and hence furnishes a basis for more discriminate assessment of the relative merits of realism and formalism, respectively.
About the speaker
Paul B. Miller is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Associate Dean for International & Graduate Programs at Notre Dame Law School, where he also serves as Director of the Notre Dame Program on Private Law. Miller taught previously at McGill University in Montréal and has held visiting appointments at Bucerius Law School, the University of Melbourne, Université Paris II – Panthéon-Assas, Peking University, and Tel Aviv University. Miller is a private law theorist whose work focuses on general jurisprudence as well as philosophical questions in equity, fiduciary law, trust law, agency, and corporate law. His books include Philosophical Foundations of Fiduciary Law, The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law, and Civil Wrongs and Justice in Private Law. Miller is an Elected Member of the American Law Institute and serves (with John Oberdiek) as the Editor for Oxford Private Law Theory and the associated series, Oxford Studies in Private Law Theory, both published by Oxford University Press.
Wednesday 25 February
Time: 1-2pm
Venue: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney, Camperdown campus
CPD Points: 1
This event is proudly presented by the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence at The University of Sydney Law School.
Paul B. Miller delivers the next JSI seminar in the series, "Realism and formalism in private law".
JSI Seminar | Realism and formalism in private law
In-person event
For the past several decades, realists and formalists have been deeply at odds. They have, however, mostly been talking past one another, with each side trading in caricature of the other. In this article, I aim to show the benefits of a more tempered approach; in my case, the approach of a formalist to realist thought.
I closely examine the unreconstructed legacy of realist thought, focusing on realist ideas that have proven especially influential. Along the way, I uncover some surprising affinities and compatibilities between realist and formalist thought. Acknowledging that it is hard to take the measure of realism, I argue that we can credit it with eight important ideas about law. For each of these, I also locate correlative unsound ideas.
That these pairings of ideas—sound and unsound—travel together has made it difficult to understand and to critically evaluate realism. This, in turn, has made it difficult for realists and formalists to join one another in productive debate. It is all too easy for those sympathetic to realism to see only the sound ideas, or to be swayed by rhetorically powerful expression of unsound ones. Likewise, it has been all too easy for formalists to see only the unsound ideas. This article aids in the disentanglement of the many strands of realist thought and hence furnishes a basis for more discriminate assessment of the relative merits of realism and formalism, respectively.
About the speaker
Paul B. Miller is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Associate Dean for International & Graduate Programs at Notre Dame Law School, where he also serves as Director of the Notre Dame Program on Private Law. Miller taught previously at McGill University in Montréal and has held visiting appointments at Bucerius Law School, the University of Melbourne, Université Paris II – Panthéon-Assas, Peking University, and Tel Aviv University. Miller is a private law theorist whose work focuses on general jurisprudence as well as philosophical questions in equity, fiduciary law, trust law, agency, and corporate law. His books include Philosophical Foundations of Fiduciary Law, The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law, and Civil Wrongs and Justice in Private Law. Miller is an Elected Member of the American Law Institute and serves (with John Oberdiek) as the Editor for Oxford Private Law Theory and the associated series, Oxford Studies in Private Law Theory, both published by Oxford University Press.
Wednesday 25 February
Time: 1-2pm
Venue: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney, Camperdown campus
CPD Points: 1
This event is proudly presented by the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence at The University of Sydney Law School.
Good to know
Highlights
- 1 hour
- In-person
Location
Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10), The University of Sydney Law School
Eastern Avenue
Camperdown, NSW 2050
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