Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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Oliver Wendell Holmes on Prediction - Dictionary of Arguments
Parisi I 9 Prediction/Oliver Wendell Holmes/Miceli: (...) in his classic article “The Path of the Law,” [Oliver Wendell Holmes jr.] described his so-called “prediction theory” of law (Holmes, 1897)(1). The key figure in this theory is the “bad man,” who represents the classic rational maximizer from economic theory. The bad man is not an immoral agent, but rather is amoral in the sense that he will break the law when the gains from doing so exceed the costs. Thus, “[i]f you want to know the law and nothing else, you must look at it as a bad man, who cares only for material consequences which such knowledge enables him to predict” (Holmes, 1897(1), p. 459). This view of law may strike many as crass, especially those who obey the law out of a sense of moral obligation rather than a fear of punishment, but to examine the incentive effects of law, it is necessary to focus on those individuals for whom it is a binding constraint. That is what economic models of law seek to do. >Economics models, >Precaution/Cooter, >Threshold rules/Economic theories. 1. Holmes, Oliver W. (1897) “The Path of the Law.” Harvard Law Review 10: 61–478. Miceli, Thomas J. „Economic Models of Law“. In: Parisi, Francesco (ed) (2017). The Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics. Vol 1: Methodology and Concepts. NY: Oxford University Press._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
LawHolm I Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. The Common Law Mineola, NY 1991 Parisi I Francesco Parisi (Ed) The Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics: Volume 1: Methodology and Concepts New York 2017 |
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> Counter arguments against Holmes
> Counter arguments in relation to Prediction
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-27