Legal Reason: The Use of Analogy in Legal Argument

Legal Reason describes and explains the process of analogical reasoning, which is the distinctive feature of legal argument. It challenges the prevailing view, urged by Edward Levi, Cass Sunstein, Richard Posner and others, which regards analogical reasoning as logically flawed or as a defective form of deductive reasoning. It shows that analogical reasoning in the law is the same as the reasoning used by all of us routinely in everyday life and that it is a valid form of reasoning derived from the innate human capacity to recognize the general in the particular, on which thought itself depends. The use of analogical reasoning is dictated by the nature of law, which requires the application of rules to particular facts. Written for scholars as well as students and persons generally who are interested in law, Legal Reason is written in clear, accessible prose, with many examples drawn from the law and from everyday experience.

Weinreb, Lloyd L.

Legal Theory & Systems

Cambridge University Press

Legal Reason describes and explains the process of analogical reasoning, which is the distinctive feature of legal argument. It challenges the prevailing view, urged by Edward Levi, Cass Sunstein, Richard Posner and others, which regards analogical reasoning as logically flawed or as a defective form of deductive reasoning. Lloyd Weinreb reveals that it is the same as the reasoning used routinely everyday--derived from the innate human capacity to recognize the general in the particular, on which thought itself depends. Moreover, the use of analogical reasoning is dictated by the nature of law, which requires the application of rules to particular facts.

Law Practice

“Human beings are a part of nature and apart from it.” The argument of Natural Law and Justice is that the philosophy of natural law and contemporary theories about the nature of justice are both efforts to make sense of the fundamental paradox of human experience: individual freedom and responsibility in a causally determined universe.
Lloyd Weinreb restores the original understanding of natural law as a philosophy about the place of humankind in nature. He traces the natural law tradition from its origins in Greek speculation through its classic Christian statement by Thomas Aquinas. He goes on to show how the social contract theorists adapted the idea of natural law to provide for political obligation in civil society and how the idea was transformed in Kant’s account of human freedom. He brings the historical narrative down to the present with a discussion of the contemporary debate between natural law and legal positivism, including particularly the natural law theories of Finnis, Richards, and Dworkin.
Weinreb then adopts the approach of modern political philosophy to develop the idea of justice as a union of the distinct ideas of desert and entitlement. He shows liberty and equality to be the political analogues of desert and entitlement and both pairs to be the normative equivalents of freedom and cause. In this part of the book, Weinreb considers the theories of justice of Rawls and Nozick as well as the communitarian theory of Maclntyre and Sandel.
The conclusion brings the debates about natural law and justice together, as parallel efforts to understand the human condition. This original contribution to legal philosophy will be especially appreciated by scholars, teachers, and students in the fields of political philosophy, legal philosophy, and the law generally.

Natural Law and Justice

Criminal Law

Harvard University Press

We speak of rights as though they are objective matters of fact that have a crucial bearing on how we ought to behave. Yet few, if any, rights are universally acknowledged without wide differences of meaning. Instead, they usually represent the particular ideals of the individuals or groups that claim them. Theories of rights have always grappled with this central problem, but none of the literature on the subject has offered a satisfactory solution. Lloyd Weinreb makes the first significant advance toward an understanding of what rights are, how they function in our lives, and why we need them.Weinreb’s central argument is that rights are tightly connected to responsibility. They are the normative constituents of persons, attributes that we have rightly, as our due. As such, they enable us to overcome the antinomy of moral freedom and natural causal order. Without them, we could not regard human beings as persons, that is, as free and responsible, or autonomous. Since responsibility is a structural feature of our experience and a matter of fact, rights too are matters of fact.Against a review of the current debates on the subject, Weinreb fully elaborates his original argument on the nature of rights and finds the source of concrete rights in the nomos, or deep conventions, of a community. Applying his theory, he shows how it helps to answer specific questions about animal rights, human rights―including, in the context of abortion and capital punishment, the right to life―and civil rights, including particularly rights of the handicapped, gay rights, and affirmative action in contemporary American society. Along the way, Weinreb shows that Oedipus and Roger Clemens have more in common than either would probably have supposed.This highly original work will significantly redirect the study of rights. It will be especially valuable to those who practice or study law, philosophy, politics, and public policy.

Oedipus at Fenway Park: What Rights Are and Why There are Any

Constitutional Law

After your casebook, "Casenotes" will be your most important reference source for the entire semester. It is the most popular legal briefs series available, with over 140 titles, and is relied on by thousands of students for its expert case summaries, comprehensive analysis of concurrences and dissents, as well as of the majority opinion in the briefs.

Casenote Legal Briefs: Criminal Procedure - Keyed to Weinreb

Aspen Law & Business

Criminal law: Cases, comment and questions (University casebook series)

Foundation Press

Criminal Process: Cases, Comment, Questions (University Casebook Series)

Foundation Pr

1988 Supplement to Criminal Process: Cases, Comment, Questions (University Casebook Series)

Legal Reason

Legal Reason describes and explains analogical reasoning, the distinctive feature of legal argument. It challenges the prevailing view that analogical reasoning is a logically flawed, defective form of deductive reasoning. Drawing on work in epistemology and cognitive psychology, the book shows that analogical reasoning in the law is the same as that used by everyone routinely in ordinary life, and that it is a valid form of reasoning, derived from the innate human capacity to recognize the general in the particular. The use of analogical reasoning in law is dictated by the nature of law, which calls for the application of general rules to particular facts. Critiques of the first edition of the book are addressed directly and objections answered in a new chapter. Written for scholars, students, and persons interested in law, Legal Reason is written in accessible prose, with examples drawn from the law and everyday experience.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Weinreb, Lloyd L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Weinreb, Lloyd L.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Weinreb, Lloyd L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Legal Reason: The Use of Analogy in Legal Argument

Legal Reason: The Use of Analogy in Legal Argument

Legal Reason: The Use of Analogy in Legal Argument

Natural Law and Justice

Oedipus at Fenway Park: What Rights Are and Why There are Any

Casenote Legal Briefs: Criminal Procedure - Keyed to Weinreb

Criminal law: Cases, comment and questions (University casebook series)

Criminal Process: Cases, Comment, Questions (University Casebook Series)

1988 Supplement to Criminal Process: Cases, Comment, Questions (University Casebook Series)

Legal Reason: The Use of Analogy in Legal Argument