Saprai, Prince; Chen-Wishart, Mindy; (2025) Introduction. In: Saprai, Prince and Chen-Wishart, Mindy, (eds.) Research Handbook on the Philosophy of Contract Law. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham. (In press).

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Abstract

This chapter introduces the reader to the main purpose of the volume which is to provide a comprehensive survey of live debates about the philosophy of contract law and the role that they play in understanding fundamental contractual principles and the rules and doctrines that animate this area of law. Rather than summarise all of the contributions to the volume, the chapter picks out three recurrent themes: first, the growing trend toward pluralistic rather than monistic accounts of contract law, such as the dominant promise theory, which might suggest a renewed emphasis on explaining contract doctrine and a ‘political turn’ in the literature; second, the nature of the fundamental principle of freedom of contract and its limits located in purposes internal or external to contract; and, finally, how contract theory struggles with hard cases of rules and doctrines that seem to diverge from the requirements of interpersonal morality, such as the law on third parties and the handling of contractual debt claims. Bridging the gap between theory and practice here suggests links between the problem of hard cases, the trend toward pluralism, and the interaction between internal and external values to explain contract doctrine.

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