波斯纳
普通法一词像其他许多法律术语一样，意义不甚明确。它通常是指18世纪英国皇家法院所运用的原则体系（它包括某些成文法，但不包括衡平法和海事法）；它们主要是由法官作为案件审判副产品而创设的，而不是由立法机关制定的法律；以及任何主要由司法先例形成的法律领域。本书这一部分所关心的主要是第二种意义上的普通法，但这里不包括两个重要的部分，即程序法和冲突法，这两部分将在后面的第21章中讨论。除此以外，本书在以后的章节中还要论述可能被认为是第三种意义和最广泛意义上的普通法，包括宪法的重要领域。
从经济学角度看，第二种意义上的普通法的实体部分可以有三个组成部分：
（1）财产权法（the law of property），它涉及财产权的创设和界定，而财产权是对有价值资源进行排他性使用的权利。
（2）契约法（the law of contracts），它涉及促使财产权向最珍视它们的那些人那里自愿转移的问题。
（3）侵权法（the law of torts），它涉及财产权的保护，包括人身不可侵犯的权利。
像海事法、赔偿法和商法，甚至还有刑法和亲属法那样的法律领域，都可被看作是一个或更多基本领域的专门性分支。虽然法律远不像这一分类提及的那么分明（即使在原则上也是如此，如我们将在3.6中看到的财产权法和侵权法的重叠），但这种分类对本书本部分的思想组织和主题概括还是有用的：如果普通法规则和第1章描述的经济效率原则不完全一致，那它就更值得注意。
Richard Posner is one of the founding fathers of the law and economics school of thought and the most widely cited living legal scholar. Following his graduation from Harvard Law School, Judge Posner clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. From 1963-65, he served as assistant to Commissioner Philip Elman of the Federal Trade Commission. For the next two years he was assistant to the solicitor general of the United States. Prior to going to Stanford Law School in 1968 as associate professor, Judge Posner served as general counsel of the President's Task Force on Communications Policy. He first came to the University of Chicago Law School in 1969, and was Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law prior to his appointment in 1981 as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was the chief judge of the court from 1993 to 2000. He continues to serve as a Senior Lecturer at Chicago.
Following his graduation from Harvard Law School, Judge Posner clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. From 1963-65, he was assistant to Commissioner Philip Elman of the Federal Trade Commission. For the next two years he was assistant to the solicitor general of the United States. Prior to going to Stanford Law School in 1968 as associate professor, Judge Posner served as general counsel of the President's Task Force on Communications Policy. He first came to the Law School in 1969, and was Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law prior to his appointment in 1981 as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was the chief judge of the court from 1993 to 2000.
Judge Posner has written a number of books, including Economic Analysis of Law (5th ed., 1998), The Economics of Justice (1981), Law and Literature (2d ed. 1997), The Problems of Jurisprudence (1990), Cardozo: A Study in Reputation (1990), The Essential Holmes (1992), Sex and Reason (1992), Overcoming Law (1995), The Federal Courts: Challenge and Reform (1996), Law and Legal Theory in England and America (1996), The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory (1999), and Antitrust Law (2d ed. 2001) as well as many articles in legal and economic journals. He has taught administrative law, antitrust, economic analysis of law, history of legal thought, conflict of laws, regulated industries, law and literature, the legislative process, family law, primitive law, torts, civil procedure, evidence, health law and economics, and jurisprudence.
Born: 1939.
Education: -A.B., 1959, Yale University; LL.B., 1962, Harvard University; LL.D. (Hon.), 1986, Syracuse University; LL.D. (Hon.), 1987, Duquesne University; LL.D. (Hon.), 1993, Georgetown University; Dr. Honoris Causa, 1995, University of Ghent; LL.D. (Hon.), 1996, Yale University; LL.D. (Hon.), 1997, University of Pennsylvania; J.D. (Hon.), 2000, Brooklyn Law School; LL.D (Hon.), 2001, Northwestern University.
Posner has written more than three dozen books, including Economic Analysis of Law (5th ed., 1998), The Economics of Justice (1981), Law and Literature (2d ed. 1997), The Problems of Jurisprudence (1990), Cardozo: A Study in Reputation (1990), The Essential Holmes (1992), Sex and Reason (1992), Overcoming Law (1995), The Federal Courts: Challenge and Reform (1996), Law and Legal Theory in England and America (1996), The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory (1999), and Antitrust Law (2d ed. 2001) as well as many articles in legal and economic journals. He has taught administrative law, antitrust, economic analysis of law, history of legal thought, conflict of laws, regulated industries, law and literature, the legislative process, family law, primitive law, torts, civil procedure, evidence, health law and economics, and jurisprudence.
Richard A. Posner
Senior Lecturer in Law
1111 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
phone: 773-702-9608
email: mmaloney@law.uchicago.edu
