Adam Smith and the Philosophy of Law and Economics

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-X

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2. Introduction to the Volume

   • Robin Malloy

   Pages 1-5

3. Setting the Scene: Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy

   • Jerry Evensky

   Pages 7-29

4. Adam Smith and the Role of the Courts in Securing Justice and Liberty

   • John W. Cairns

   Pages 31-61

5. Adam Smith’s Treatment of Criminal Law

   • J. Ralph Lindgren

   Pages 63-81

6. Adam Smith on Delictual Liability

   • Kenneth A. B. Mackinnon

   Pages 83-112

7. Adam Smith and the Modern Discourse of Law and Economics

   • Robin Paul Malloy

   Pages 113-150

8. Introduction to Part Two

   • Robin Paul Malloy

   Pages 151-151

9. Is Law and Economics Moral? — Humanistic Economics and a Classical Liberal Critique of Posner’s Economic Analysis

   • Robin Paul Malloy

   Pages 153-166

10. Law and Economics is Moral

    • Richard A. Posner

    Pages 167-177

11. The Limits of Science in Legal Discourse — A Reply to Posner

    • Robin Malloy

    Pages 179-185

12. Rebuttal to Malloy

    • Richard A. Posner

    Pages 187-188

13. Professor Malloy, Judge Posner, and Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy

    • Jerry Evensky

    Pages 189-197

14. The Role of Law in Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy:Natural Jurisprudence and Utility

    • Jerry Evensky

    Pages 199-219

15. Back Matter

    Pages 221-228

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Adam Smith and the Philosophy of Law and Economics is a unique book. Malloy and Evensky bring together a team of international and interdisciplinary scholars to address the work of Adam Smith as it relates to law and economics. In addition to their own contributions, the book includes works by Dr. John W. Cairns of the University of Edinburgh, Dr. J. Ralph Lindgren of Lehigh University, Professor Kenneth A.B. Mackinnon of the University of Waikato, and the Honorable Richard A. Posner of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. Together these authors bring expertise from the areas of law, philosophy, history, economics, and law and economics to a new study of Adam Smith and his work.
Part One of the book presents new and important observations on Smith's views on community, ethics, the court system, criminal law, and delictual or tort law liability. In this part of the book Smith's work is also examined from the perspective of his use as persuasive authority in the works of modern legal economists. In Part Two the `living Smith' is explored by way of a debate between two major contributors in the field of law and economics. The debate and its analysis create a unique and contemporary opportunity to study Smith as a foundational source in the midst of a current academic and social policy dispute.
The understanding of Adam Smith that emerges from this book is new and complex. It will challenge the one-dimensional portrayals of Smith as a promoter of self-interest and it will correct many of the misinterpretations of Smith that are currently fashionable in the worlds of law and economics and the philosophy of law.

• Adam Smith
• Law and Economics
• interpretation
• justice
• legal discourse
• philosophy of law
• will

• College of Law, Syracuse University, New York, USA

  Robin Paul Malloy

• Department of Economics, Syracuse University, New York, USA

  Jerry Evensky

Policies and ethics