Overview

This volume introduces the legal philosopher Adolf Reinach and his contributions to speech act theory, as well as his analysis of basic legal concepts and their relationship to positive law. Reinach's thorough analysis has recently garnered growing interest in private law theory, yet his 'phenomenological realist' philosophical approach is not in line with contemporary mainstream approaches. The essays in this volume resuscitate and interrogate Reinach's unique account of the foundations of private law, situating him in contemporary private law theory and broader philosophical currents. The work also makes Reinach's methods more accessible to those unfamiliar with early phenomenology. Together these contributions prove that while Reinach's perspective on private law shares similarities and points of departure with trends in today's legal theory, many of his insights remain singular and illuminating in their own right. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Full Product Details

Author:   Marietta Auer (Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory) ,  Paul B. Miller (University of Notre Dame, Indiana) ,  Henry E. Smith (Harvard Law School, Massachusetts) ,  James Toomey (University of Iowa)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
ISBN:  

9781009446006

ISBN 10:   1009446002
Pages:   356
Publication Date:   07 August 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Introduction James Toomey; Part I. Reinach and His Method: 1. Promising, owning, enacting: Adolf Reinach's phenomenology of legal speech acts Marietta Auer; 2. Darwin's Reinach James Toomey; 3. Is there a legal a priori? On necessary, essential, and non-positive propositions in Reinach's theory Lorenz Kaehler; 4. Adolf Reinach, negation, and law Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray; Part II. Reinach and Private Law Theory: 5. Legal concepts as a deep structure of the law: Reinach's a priori in action Andrew S. Gold and Henry E. Smith; 6. Private law beyond the law Sandy Steel; 7. Reinach on personality and representation Paul B. Miller; 8. The ontology of liberties: reconciling Reinach and Hohfeld Olivier Massin; Part III. Reinach and Legal Concepts: 9. Adolf Reinach and Gerhart Husserl on the foundations of legal phenomenology and the temporality of law Stephan Kirste; 10. How to make gifts with words Emma Tieffenbach; 11. So close and yet so far: Reinach and Gilbert on promises Alessandro Salice and Olivier Massin; 12. The conceptual foundations of contract formation Crescente Molina.

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Author Information

Marietta Auer is Professor of Law and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt. Paul B. Miller is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Associate Dean for International and Graduate Programs at Notre Dame Law School, where he directs the Notre Dame Program on Private Law. Henry E. Smith is the Fessenden Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he directs the Project on the Foundations of Private Law. James Toomey is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Iowa. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.

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