Snyder on Metamorphoses in the Law of Contract: Mythological Reflections @AUWCL

David V. Snyder, American University College of Law, has published Metamorphoses in the Law of Contract: Mythological Reflections. Here is the abstract.

A human body grows and changes but remains the same body. The same is true of other organisms, even though some transform dramatically. Metamorphosis is a poetic and mythological conceit of identity, change, and continuity. It applies just as well to the law of contract and helps us understand the power of the contract law canon and the conventional understanding of the legal history of contract. The ideas probably hold true for private law generally, but the focus is on Anglo-American contract law with a foray into Scots private law. Three aspects of mythology and metamorphosis are highlighted. First, the conventional understanding of legal history shapes what the law is. In the story of legal development, we see an implicit notion of progress — with missteps and complications of plot, but with the conviction that eventually the law, like any myth, will work itself out in a way that is right — not necessarily a way that is good but instead a way that fits with society. And in any system based on case law, this conventional understanding of legal development shapes the law itself. Second, the force of this conventional understanding is scarcely lessened by demonstrable falsity. Classic books, lectures, and cases illustrate the idea that historical inaccuracy is an insignificant check on the power of myth. Finally, myths consist not only of explanatory plotlines; they also draw on characters and settings that reflect and inspire the society they serve. Legal myths are no different. Understanding legal mythology requires an attentive ear and a sharp eye for the characters, as well as the storytellers. The reasonable man is not the same as the reasonable person (or is he — a metamorphosis?), and in any case is not the same as the bonus paterfamilias or bon père de famille—the good father of the family, or good family man, the comparable figure of Roman and civil law. Setting matters as much: the heritage of kings and lords, and judges and Westminster Hall, makes for different offspring than that of Rome and Continental learning, of wise thinkers and treatise authors, of Parliament House and institutional writers. When law is understood as a humanistic and rhetorical discipline, the force of myth, in all its aspects, is only natural.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.