Social and Philosophical Ideas

How much is the development of fault liability 1850-2000 driven by the broader social and political ideas of the period? How far do laws made by parliaments, judicial decisions and the writing of academics and practitioners react to and reflect the external environment of ideas? One theory would be that the law does respond closely to the changes in wider currents of ideas. On the other hand, another theory would be that there is something distinctive, even self-contained and perhaps self-reinforcing in what happens in the law.

The project has explored these issues. But above all, one should remember that it will be very difficult to locate the connections. It will not, for example, be possible to show a direct causal link between a theoretical movement and a change in the law. On the other hand, it is very useful to know the intellectual context within which the law has developed, and coincidence and correlation are useful to identify, even if we cannot prove causes. In this presentation, the work of particular authors is used to highlight potential connections.