Philosophical Foundations of Precedent [Hardcover]

This fascinating edited volume focuses on the nature and authority of precedent and forms of reasoning that it involves in common law and civil law systems. It addresses fundamental principles as to how and when to act following precedent and reasons for which it may be best to depart from precedent.Philosophical Foundations of Precedentoffers a broad, deep, and diverse range of philosophical investigations of the role of precedent in law, adjudication, and morality. The forty chapters present the work of a large and inclusive group of authors which comprises of well-established leaders in the discipline and new voices in legal philosophy.The magnitude of the resulting project is extraordinary, presenting a diverse array of innovative and creative philosophical investigations of the practice of adhering to past decisions, in law and allied fields of practical reasoning. And by the same token, the contributions elucidate the reasons that courts and other decision-makers may have for departing from what has been done before. The phenomena under investigation include the law and practice of common law and civil jurisdictions around the world.In addition to its fundamental relevance to common law jurisdictions, this work will be of broad and significant interest to theoretically minded audiences in continental Europe, Latin America, and Asia because it involves an extensive study of practices of precedent in civil law systems as well as common law systems.Introduction: The Central Question and Its Ramifications,Timothy Endicott, Hafsteinn Dan Kristj?nsson, and Sebastian LewisI. The Nature of Precedent1. Precedent: The What, the Why, and the How,Larry Alexander2. The Doctrine of Precedent and the Rule of Recognition,Grant Lamond3. On the Nature of Stare Decisis,Sebastian Lewis4. Why Precedent Works,N. W. Barber5. Precedent and Legal Creep: A Cause for Concern?,Adam Rigoni6. Elements of Precedl#*