John Gardner, Oxford University
In this talk I consider Coleman's sustained critique of the economic analysis of law in the first few chapters of The Practice of Principle. I argue that this critique is overstated and that the economic analysis of tort law has more to offer in defending norms of corrective justice (norms of reparation and restitution) than has sometimes been assumed. The economistic mistake that really poses an obstacle to an economic defence of norms of corrective justice has never, I argue, been accurately identified by opponents of economic analysis. I attempt to identify, in outline, what that mistake is.