The new Research Handbook on the Philosophy of Contract Law, edited by Mindy Chen-Wishart and Prince Saprai, and published by Edward Elgar Publishing is now out. From the publisher:
With contributions from experts in the field, this comprehensive Research Handbook provides a systematic overview of debates at the cutting edge of the philosophy of contract law.
The Research Handbook engages closely with general theories of contract law, entering into detailed theoretical discussions surrounding its principles, rules and doctrines, as well as its moral foundations. Chapters explore key themes such as the limits of freedom of contract; debates about monistic and pluralistic theories of contract law; and the philosophical challenges associated with resolving hard cases. The Research Handbook on the Philosophy of Contract Law suggests paths for future studies, emphasising the need to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Wide-ranging in scope, this Research Handbook is an essential resource for scholars and students in contract law theory, moral and political philosophy, jurisprudence and law and economics. Legal practitioners and policy experts seeking an overview of current theoretical debates will also benefit greatly from this book.
The book leaflet as well as screen shots of the table of contents are below. My contribution, The Ethical Limits of Markets: Market Inalienability, is here. Here is the abstract:
Although ethical critiques of markets are longstanding, modern academic debates about the “moral limits of markets” (MLM) tend to be fairly limited in scope. These disputes center, not on the dangers of markets per se, but on the dangers of exchanging particular items and activities through the marketplace. Proponents of MLM theories thus do not want to eliminate markets entirely, but instead seek to identify the moral and ethical boundaries of the marketplace by considering which goods and services are inappropriate for market trading. This chapter summarizes and categorizes some of the more important arguments within this debate, with a focus on recent research, controversies, and applications. The goal is to provide an overview of these debates, highlighting some of the topics that have generated robust discussion, particularly when relatively recent empirical or theoretical work may shed new light on a topic. Specifically, I focus on crowding out, corruption, leaving a space for altruism, equality, and a trio of related debates regarding paternalism (coercion, unjust inducement, and exploitation).
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