The Eclipse of Classical Thought in China and The West

James Gordley is W. R. Irby Distinguished University Professor at Tulane Law School, and Shannon Cecil Turner Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus at the Berkeley Law School. He is a Fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Corresponding Fellow of The British Academy and a membre titulaire of the Académie internationale du droit comparé. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fulbright Fellow. He is the author of numerous books and articles including The Jurists: A Critical History (2013), Foundations of Private Law (2006), and The Philosophical Origins of Modern Contract Doctrine (1991).

• Part I . Two Ancient Traditions: 1. The beginnings of ethical philosophy; 2. The challenge to virtue and the discovery of human nature; 3. A normative psychology; 4. The universality of normative standards; 5. Justice, propriety and the common good; 6. Government; Part II. The Formation of Two Constitutions: 7. A confucian empire: song dynasty China; 8. A democratic republic: the United States of America; Part III. The Eclipse of Classical Thought: 9. Neo-confucianiam; 10. The path to orthodoxy; 11. The rise and fall of western rationalism; 12. The search for alternatives; 13. Conclusion; Appendix.

'The sweep of Gordley's analysis is enormous, and his theory is driven through centuries of classical and modern thought. This volume will appeal to speculative minds that enjoy wide-ranging conclusions. … Recommended.' L. L. Lam-Easton, Choice