Legal Reasoning – System in the Law
3rd Edition of the 'Harvard-Hamburg Conferences on New Approaches to Legal Reasoning'
Modern law in both civil and common law jurisdictions grew out of centuries of efforts at shaping the law into a coherent and comprehensive conceptual system. More recently, though, the idea of system in the law has engendered skepticism or even outright hostility. When commentators speak of “system” in the law, what do they mean? To be systematic, must the law employ highly abstract concepts, engage in thoroughgoing formalism, or rely exclusively on deductive reasoning? Is the system in the law a closed or an open one? How does system in the law relate to modern notions of system in complex systems theory, in which a system is a set of interconnected elements? How tight or loose are these connections? For example, certain touchstone concepts in legal theory such as possession have been treated at various times as abstract categories from which a host of disparate legal results can be derived, and at other times as a meaningless label that groups together a contingent set of fact situations. Are there alternative concepts of legal concepts?
System in the law also raises methodological questions. Does a concern for system in the law commit one to an “internal” perspective on the law? Or does system in the law serve functions that can be evaluated by external criteria? Do legal concepts and their connections reflect human psychology? Do they make the law work better, and, if so, in what sense? Some believe that the common law and civil law systems have different concepts of legal concept and that civil law is somehow more systematic than common law. Or are any apparent differences in this regard only superficial? And going back to the roots of system-thinking in Western legal thought, does system in the law improve its guidance function, its fairness, and ultimately rule-of-law values?
This conference will bring together scholars from multiple disciplines and legal cultures to address legal concepts and the nature of system in the law. Emphasis will be placed on bringing new tools – new logics, new models, new disciplinary perspectives – to bear on the role and style of legal reasoning across jurisdictions.
Hosts:
Prof. Dr. Matthias Armgardt, University of Hamburg
Prof. Dr. Scott Brewer, Harvard Law School
Prof. Dr. Henry E. Smith, Harvard Law School
| Date: | June 16-18, 2025 | |
| Location: | Monday, June 16: | Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West, Harvard Law School |
| Tuesday, June 17: | Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West, Harvard Law School | |
| Wednesday, June 18: | Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West, Harvard Law School | |
| Contact: | Chaofeng Chen | |
Cf. Poster and Flyer with Programme for the Conference: Poster and Flyer
Speakers:
Monday:
- Monday, June 16, 9:00
'Opening Remarks'
Prof. Dr. John C.P. Goldberg
Interim Dean and Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, Harvard Law School - Monday, June 16, 9:30
'Private Law and Constitutional Law –
Systematic Coherence or Incommensurable Normative Orders'
Prof. Dr. Marietta Auer
Professor of Law, Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt a.M. - Monday, June 16, 11:15
'Laws of Externalities'
Prof. Dr. Richard R.W. Brooks
Emilie M. Bullowa Professor of Law, New York University School of Law - Monday, June 16, 13:30
'The Boundary Objects in Private Law'
Prof. Dr. Thilo Kuntz
Professor of Private, Commercial and Corporate Law, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf - Monday, June 16, 15:15
'Rules, Standards, and Reflective Equilibrium'
Prof. Dr. Joseph William Singer
Bussey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Tuesday:
- Tuesday, June 17, 9:00
'System and Contradiction'
Prof. Dr. Matthias Armgardt
Nucleus Professor for Global Legal History, Private Law, and Computational Legal Theory, Universität Hamburg - Tuesday, June 17, 10:45
'Reflections on Complexity, Evidence and Law'
Prof. Dr. Ronald J. Allen
John Henry Wigmore Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law - Tuesday, June 17, 13:00
'(In-)Complete Systems – System Formation using the Example of EU Labor Law'
Prof. Dr. Claudia Schubert
Professor for Private Law and German and European Labor Law, Universität Hamburg - Tuesday, June 17, 14:45
'Equity, Restatements, and System in the Law'
Prof. Dr. Shyamkrishna Balganesh
Sol Goldman Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
together with Prof. Dr. Andrew Gold
Professor of Law, UC Irvine School of Law
and Prof. Dr. Henry E. Smith
Fessenden Professor of Law, Harvard Law School - Tuesday, June 17, 16:15
'European Integration as a Self-Accelerating System of Normative Consolidation –
the Systemic Dynamics of Mutual Recognition and Legal Harmonization'
Prof. Dr. Markus Kotzur
Professor for Public Law, European and International Public Law, Universität Hamburg
Wednesday:
- Wednesday, June 18, 9:00
'Does Law obey the Laws of a Logical System?'
Prof. Dr. Scott Brewer
Professor of Law, Harvard Law School - Wednesday, June 18, 10:45
'System and Tradition'
Prof. Dr. Emily Shervin
Frank B. Ingersoll Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
The conference is chaired by:
Monday 9:30: Prof. Dr. Saskia Lettmaier, Universität Hamburg
Monday 11:15: Ass. Prof. Dr. Mitchell Chervu Johnston, Boston College Law School
Monday 13:30: Prof. Dr. J. Mark Ramseyer, Harvard Law School
Monday 15:15: Prof. Dr. Yun-chien Chang, Cornell University
Tuesday 9:00: Prof. Dr. Ted Sichelman, University of San Diego
Tuesday 10:45: Prof. Dr. Ted Sichelman, University of San Diego
Tuesday 13:00: Prof. Dr. Yun-chien Chang, Cornell University
Tuesday 14:45: Prof. Dr. Daniel Markovits, Yale University
Tuesday 16:15: Prof. Dr. Yun-chien Chang, Cornell University
Wednesday 9:00: Prof. Dr. Saskia Lettmaier, Universität Hamburg
Wednesday 10:45: Prof. Dr. Ruth L. Okediji, Harvard Law School