Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

It is the purpose of this preface to introduce a collection of essays on current topics in law and legal theory. Each of the essays that follow is an original contribution to the topic. In the course of this preface I wish to do two things. First, I shall state the overall plan of the work. Second, I would like to speak to the question of the readership of this book. From the start, it was the goal both of the editor and the publisher to assemble the best writers in contemporary jurisprudence to address live issues in the field in the course of providing an introduction to the concerns of contemporary legal theory. Each of the authors was asked both to survey the topic assigned to them and, where appropriate, to indicate their own view of the questions and issues at stake. In short, it was the purpose of the editor and the publisher to have entries that would be of interest both to beginning student and other professionals. There are two aspects to the question of readership. First, the book has a decidedly American perspective. This is no doubt due to he fact that the editor and most of the contributors are American legal academics. However, it is the student perspective, driven by the sizeable American law school population, which decided the orientation of many of the essays. It is almost impossible in the modern American law school to encounter any subject matter that does not ... log in or subscribe to read full text