
Forgotten Justice
Forms of Justice in the History of Legal and Political Theory
Allan Beever(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 14. February 2013
Book
Hardback
342 pages
978-0-19-967548-7 (ISBN)
Description
Throughout much of the history of political philosophy, many of the great philosophers begin their work with an investigation of private law. Why is this? And why is the central focus of our modern concern, the state, examined so late in their works? This book suggests an answer to these and related questions. It reveals that there are two general ways of thinking about the legal and the political: the modern which sees all through the lens of the state, and the traditional which begins with individuals and with the normative relations that exist between them building only slowly towards the community and the state.
In the modern view, private law is understood as a method for achieving certain social goals. As such, it can be overlooked by political philosophy. For the traditional view, on the other hand, private law is of central philosophical importance, because it is there that we observe a society's enunciation of its most fundamental political and legal values. Arguing that an understanding of the traditional view is essential to an understanding of private law and political life, this book highlights how the modern conception is seriously distorting in this regard.
A story unfolds throughout the chapters: the story of the growth and decline of the traditional view in political and legal thought. It challenges the modern fixation with the state, arguing for a return to the traditional view of legal and political community.
In the modern view, private law is understood as a method for achieving certain social goals. As such, it can be overlooked by political philosophy. For the traditional view, on the other hand, private law is of central philosophical importance, because it is there that we observe a society's enunciation of its most fundamental political and legal values. Arguing that an understanding of the traditional view is essential to an understanding of private law and political life, this book highlights how the modern conception is seriously distorting in this regard.
A story unfolds throughout the chapters: the story of the growth and decline of the traditional view in political and legal thought. It challenges the modern fixation with the state, arguing for a return to the traditional view of legal and political community.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
678 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-967548-7 (9780199675487)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€64.49
Available for download

E-Book
02/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€74.99
Available for download
Person
Allan Beever is a Professor of Law at the University of South Australia. He has previously taught or held visiting positions at the Universities of Ottawa, Southampton, Durham, the Max-Planck-Institut fuer auslaendisches und internationales Privatrecht, Hamburg, and the University of Auckland. His research focuses on the theory of tort law and the law of obligations more widely, on political and legal theory, and on the history of philosophy.
Content
PART I: DISCOVERY; PART II: ESTABLISHMENT; PART III: FORGETTING; PART IV: IMPLICATIONS