It has long been my opinion that advocates of the economic approach to law – with the notable exception of Richard Posner – have been almost entirely unreflective on the methodological foundations of their field and the philosophical commitments implied thereby. (To be fair, this is true of most economists overall, but I think they ought to be especially careful when playing in someone else's sandbox.) This shortcoming was all too well evidenced by the critical drumming taken by Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell's 2002 book, Fairness versus Welfare, which was the subject of dozens of published essays by legal scholars, including almost all of the contributors to this book, many of whom address it in their chapters as well. While law-and-economics scholars continue to employ the same tools, rusty and outdated though some of them may be – the tools, not the scholars! – it seems to fall to legal, moral, and political philosophers (and a few vagabond economists) to recommend improvements, refinements, and occasionally abandonment of the toolbox. The chapters in this volume offer a contribution to this effort, and if they inspire others to take up the cause, so much the better.

I would like to express my appreciation for the support and encouragement of John Berger and Cambridge University Press, who helped immeasurably in making this collection a reality.