This collection of articles surveying American legal theory is divided into three main sections: the 20th-century instrumentalist movement including its realist wing; some illustrative applications; and a critique.
Contents:
Part 1 The 20th century instrumentalist movement including its realist wing: the path of the law, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.; force and coercion, John Dewey; logical method and law, John Dewey; the need of a sociological jurisprudence, Roscoe Pound; mechanical jurisprudence, Roscoe Pound; the scope and purpose of sociological jurisprudence, Roscoe Pound; what is the law?, Joseph W. Bingham; a return to stare decisis, Herman Oliphant; a realistic jurisprudence - the next step, Karl N. Llewellyn; the normative, the legal and the law-jobs - the problem of juristic method, Karl N. Llewellyn; the problems of a functional jurisprudence, Felix S. Cohen.
Part 2 Some illustrative applications: the causes of popular dissatisfaction with the administration of justice, R. Pound; the judiciality of minimum-wage legislation, Thomas Reed Powell; an institutional approach to the law of commercial banking, Underhill Moore and Theodore S. Hope Jr.; through title to contract and a bit beyond, Karl N. Llewellyn; Williston on contracts, Walter Wheeler Cook; the logical and legal bases of the conflict of laws, Walter Wheeler Cook.
Part 3 Critique: American legal realism, Lon L. Fuller; legal rules - their function in the process of decision, John Dickinson; some rationalism about realism, Hermann Kantorowicz; pragmatic instrumentalism in 20th century American legal thought - a synthesis and critique of our dominant general theory about law and its use, Robert S. Summers.