Introduction to Common Law

Introduction to Common Law

Can simple rules solve social coordination problems better than regulations?  Professor Richard Epstein of NYU School of Law provides an alternative to the conventional view that property rights are arbitrarily created by the state, and therefore can be changed at will by the state. A few simple rules, he argues, are universal principles of social organization, consistent across time and culture, which form the basis of social gains.

 

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6 of 8: Common Law and the State of Nature [Introduction to Common Law] [No. 86]

How does the social contract work? Professor Richard Epstein of NYU School of Law gives an overview of the transition from the state of nature to the state. In this series on the Common Law, Professor Epstein provides an alternative to the conventio ... How does the social contract work? Professor Richard Epstein of NYU School of Law gives an overview of the transition from the state of nature to the state.

In this series on the Common Law, Professor Epstein provides an alternative to the conventional view that property rights are arbitrarily created by the state, and therefore can be changed at will by the state. A few simple rules, he argues, are universal principles of social organization, consistent across time and culture, which form the basis of social gains.

Professor Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.

As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

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Related links:

Richard Epstein: The Utilitarian Foundations of Natural Law
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWwcngsYgoUX3i5tMPI9kDQtoLuOXCsN_

Social Contract Theory in American Case Law
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWwcngsYgoUX3i5tMPI9kDQtoLuOXCsN_

Locke’s Political Philosophy
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWwcngsYgoUX3i5tMPI9kDQtoLuOXCsN_

John Locke and the Inadequacies of Social Contract Theory https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWwcngsYgoUX3i5tMPI9kDQtoLuOXCsN_