Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr, is considered by many to be the most influential American jurist. The voluminous literature devoted to his writings and legal thought, however, is diverse and inconsistent. In this study, Frederic R. Kellogg follows Holmes's intellectual path from his early writings through his judicial career. He offers a fresh perspective that addresses the views of Holmes's leading critics and explains his relevance to the controversy over judicial activism and restraint. Holmes is shown to be an original legal theorist who reconceived common law as a theory of social inquiry and who applied his insights to constitutional law. From his empirical and naturalist perspective on law, with its roots in American pragmatism, emerged Holmes's distinctive judicial and constitutional restraint. Kellogg distinguishes Holmes from analytical legal positivism and contrasts him with a range of thinkers.
By:
Frederic R. Kellogg
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 13mm
Weight: 330g
ISBN: 9780521321921
ISBN 10: 0521321921
Pages: 222
Publication Date: 30 June 2011
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. A time for law; 2. Playing king; 3. Holmes's conception of law; 4. Common law theory revisited; 5. Holmes and legal classification; 6. The general theory of liability (and its critics); 7. Morals and skepticism in law; 8. Judges, principles, and policy; 9. Common law constitutionalism; 10. Holmes's theory in retrospect.
Reviews for Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Legal Theory, and Judicial Restraint
...is an impressive achievement: Kellogg brings a new and thought-provoking perspective to Justice Holmes, the most important figure in American legal history; the book sheds new light on Holmes's ideas and legacy. Professor Brian Bix, University of Minnesota Law School In this brilliant book, Frederic Kellogg revives a Holmes hitherto buried in the neglect of Holmes' doctrinalism--indeed in the neglect of doctrinal argument as a fundamental method of constitutional construction. Here we see the Holmes who brought the common law tradition of deciding appeals to constitutional adjudication. It is a tour de force. Professor Philip Bobbitt, University of Texas Law School Can Justice Holmes add insight to...contemporary debate? For Professor Kellogg the answer is an emphatic 'yes.' Stuart Shiffman, American Judicature Society
