Law's Quandary

by Steven D. Smith

This lively book reassesses a century of jurisprudential thought from a fresh perspective, and points to a malaise that currently afflicts not only legal theory but law in general. Steven Smith argues that our legal vocabulary and methods of reasoning presuppose classical ontological commitments that were explicitly articulated by thinkers from Aquinas to Coke to Blackstone, and even by Joseph Story. But these commitments are out of sync with the world view that prevails today in academic and professional thinking. So our law-talk thus degenerates into "just words"--or a kind of nonsense. The diagnosis is similar to that offered by Holmes, the Legal Realists, and other critics over the past century, except that these critics assumed that the older ontological commitments were dead, or at least on their way to extinction; so their aim was to purge legal discourse of what they saw as an archaic and fading metaphysics. Smith's argument starts with essentially the same metaphysical predicament but moves in the opposite direction. Instead of avoiding or marginalizing the "ultimate questions," he argues that we need to face up to them and consider their implications for law.

Genres: Law, Legal

206 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2004

About the author

Professor Steven D Smith is the Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at San Diego University, and is the Co-Executive Director for both the Institute of Law and Religion, and the Institute for Law and Philosophy. He teaches in the area of law and religion, including as visiting professor at the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia.

Areas of Expertise are Constitutional Interpretation, Torts, Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, Law and Religion, Religious Freedom/Separation of Church and State, Federal Courts, Constitutional Law.

www.sandiego.edu/law/about/directory/...

Reviews

[Fahed]

Law's Quandary is very clear and well written. The conversational style that Professor Smith engages in makes it hard to put the book down. However, Professor Smith seemed somewhat reserved at times to evaluate and take a position on the different "ontological inventories" that he lays out so elegantly. Other than that, Law's Quandary is a great fast-paced read for the law-trained, academics, and even laymen who are interested in the development of American jurisprudence in the 20th century.