Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Social Functions of Courts
3. Foundational Principles
Objectivity
Support
Replicability
Responsiveness
4. Social Propositions
Moral Norms
Policies
Experiential Propositions
5. Standards for the Common Law
The Standards of Social Congruence and Systemic Consistency and the Model of Double Coherence
The Standard of Doctrinal Stability and the Real-World Model of the Common Law
6. Modes of Legal Reasoning
Reasoning from Precedent
Reasoning from Principle
Reasoning by Analogy
Reasoning from Doctrines Established in the Professional Literature
Reasoning from Hypotheticals
7. Overruling and Other Modes of Overturning
Overruling
Prospective Overruling
Transformation
Overriding
The Drawing of Inconsistent Distinctions
Noninterpretive Elements of the Common Law
8. The Theory of the Common Law
Text-based Theories of Law
Justification and the Content of the Law
The Generative Conception of the Common Law
Notes
Index