Publisher's Synopsis
The author of this important new book states that there is a general feeling that tort law is in crisis as conflicting aims and purposes pull it in different directions causing a lack of uniformity in the legal solutions. There are three pairs of concepts which dominate the contemporary discussion: moral responsibility and social utility; corrective and distributive justice; strict liability and fault. The book analyses these concepts and examines their use in the liability context. - - The author also points out that there is a clash between two basic philosophies, the instrumentalist conception of law which would subordinate liability to utilitarian considerations and the non-instrumentalist understanding of law which centres around a Kantian notion of moral personality. Special attention is also paid to the vision of courts, especially those of Anglo-American jurisdictions, while some major topics of tory liability are critically analysed in the light of underlying of the underlying judicial philosophies. Finally the book deals with the alternatives to liability, such as social insurance schemes and no-fault, first-party insurance plans.
