Classical Contract Research Articles

How Do We Keep Desire from Passing with Beauty?

This essay responds to the notion found in the work of Elaine Scarry and Martha C. Nussbaum that beauty produces justice. After interrogating the underlying premises of Scarry’s and Nussbaum’s understanding of aesthetics, language, beauty, and justice, the article concludes that beauty can no longer be the main criterion by which we judge a work of art, as there is no simple relation between art and social justice. The article posits that theory has led less to a new notion of aesthetics and more to a new responsibility in literary studies. It questions how we are to respond to literature in the wake of what George Steiner terms the “break in the classic contract between word and world” and argues that theory urges us to relinquish the classic notion that language expresses ideas or serves as a mirror-like reflection of the world. The article challenges us to re-think Scarry’s argument in light of the revolutionary change in concepts of language and textuality brought about by poststructuralist theories and asks us to accept responsibility for the connections we make rather than to see the “right” relation between aesthetics and social justice.

Cohabitation Contracts and the Democratization of Personal Relations

Feminist opposition to the use of cohabitationcontracts for the private regulation of personalrelations has been predicated on the classical readingof contract as commerce. On this reading,cohabitation contracts construct cohabitants'obligations as commercial and typically detrimental towomen because of their weaker bargaining power. Butthe premisses of classical contract theory are beingundermined by radical critiques which emphasize theimportance of relationality in the reading ofcontract. On such critiques, the obligationsconstructed by cohabitation contracts need no longerexclude considerations of the parties' differentfinancial status and social circumstances. Theconstruction of cohabitants' obligations canaccordingly foreground fairness and equality, both indrafting and in enforcing cohabitation contracts. Inthis way, the conceptualization of contract asrelationality encourages the use of cohabitationcontracts as progressive mechanisms for thedemocratization of personal relations.

Information Costs and Information Asymmetry in British Food Retailing

This article examines debates over the emergence of multiple retailers’ market power through the historical growth of relational contracting within British food retailing. The article documents the changing pattern of relational contracting. Contracting is suggested to adapt to changes in the importance of branded goods, own-label goods and asset specific investment in retailing outlets and logistics. In conclusion the article challenges the neo-classical view that markets are characterised by discrete classical contracting in favour of a view which emphasises firms’ risk minimising strategy based upon relational contracting and market power.

Clearing the Underbrush for Real-Life Contracting

In his famous book, The Death of Contract, Grant Gilmore dubbed Stewart Macaulay the Lord High Executioner of the Contract is Dead school (Gilmore 1974, 3, n.1; Braucher 1995, 52). Gilmore's book portrayed the development and asserted disintegration of classical contract doctrine as an epic battle between contract titans, with Samuel Williston advancing the classical, relatively approach and Arthur Corbin retorting with something far more nuanced, fact-sensitive, and real. Gilmore declared dead the objectivist approach and, with it, the distinctive character of contract that made it different from the of torts from which it emerged in the nineteenth century. Macaulay won his dubious cameo role1 in Gilmore's little drama because his path-breaking research had examined how contract actually operated and his findings had prompted hard questions about the flimsy connection between that law and the law that lawyers and students learn about when they study in school.

W∞andw∞Gauge Theories and Contraction

We present a general method of constructingW∞andw∞gauge theories in terms ofd+2 dimensional local fields. In this formulation theW∞gauge theory Lagrangians involve non-local interactions, but thew∞theories are entirely local. We discuss the so-called classical contraction procedure by which we derive the Lagrangian ofw∞gauge theory from that of the correspondingW∞gauge theory. In order to discuss the relationship between quantumW∞and quantumw∞gauge theory we solved=1 gauge theory models of a Higgs field exactly by using the collective field method. Based on this we conclude that theW∞gauge theory can be regarded as the largeNlimit of the correspondingSU(N) gauge theory once an appropriate coupling constant renormalization is made, while thew∞gauge theory cannot be.

Institutionalizing Industry: The Changing Forms of Contract

A replication of Macaulay's 1963 study of Wisconsin manufacturers shows that manufacturers are using a new type of contract to govern changed transactions and to establish new form of industrial organization. This article seeks to specify these changes and to demonstrate their theoretical significance by constructing an empirically and theoretically informed analytical framework. This framework establishes relations of meaning between discrete contracts, job shop production, and classical contract law; between openterm contracts, mass production, and neoclassical contract law; and between long-term agreements, flexible production, and a “shadow” relational contract law. It demonstrates that long-term agreements constitute a new device for governing exchange, that they are part of a broader change from mass production to flexible production, and that their distinctive features are not recognized by neoclassical contract law.

The Cauchy–Nicoletti Problem with Poles

Abstract The Cauchy–Nicoletti boundary value problem for a system of ordinary differential equations with pole-type singularities is investigated. The conditions of the existence, uniqueness, and non-uniqueness of a solution in the class of continuously differentiable functions are given. The classical Banach contraction principle is combined with a special transformation of the original problem.

The Cauchy-Nicoletti problem with poles

The Cauchy-Nicoletti boundary value problem for a sys- tem of ordinary dierential equations with pole-type singularities is investigated. The conditions of the existence, uniqueness, and non- uniqueness of a solution in the class of continuously dierentiable functions are given. The classical Banach contraction principle is combined with a special transformation of the original problem.

A comparison of point and ball iterations in the contractive mapping case

In applications, one of the basic problems is to solve the fixed point equationx=Tx withT a contractive mapping. Two theorems which can be implemented computationally to verify the existence of a solutionx * to the equation and to obtain a convergent approximate solution sequence {x n } are the classical Banach contraction mapping theorem and the newly established global convergence theorem of the ball algorithms in You, Xu and Liu [16]. These two theorems are compared on the basis of sensitivity, precision, computational complexity and efficiency. The comparison shows that except for computational complexity, the latter theorem is of far greater sensivity, precision and computational efficiency. This conclusion is supported by a number of numerical examples.

‘Does Sex Matter to Democracy?’– A Comment

Two aspects of the relation between sexual difference and democracy are discussed: (i) the construction in classic contract theory of the ‘natural’ difference between the sexes as a relation of superiority and subordination; (ii) the peculiarities and paradoxes of women's standing as citizens as the ‘different’ sex. This is illustrated by the examples of motherhood ‐ women have been seen as having a distinctive political duty as mothers, but motherhood is also seen as the antithesis of citizenship ‐ by the difficulties surrounding women and consent, and by the questions raised by contemporary feminists about the meaning of (‘normal’) ‘sex’.

Status and Contract in the Employment Relationship

There is evidence, in some recent legal thinking on the employment contract, of a readiness to abandon classical contract principles. This phenomenon is especially apparent in the formulation of the Employment Contract Bill, 1985. In this article, I shall examine this development in the framework of an analysis of the employment relationship and the extent to which it is to be regarded as a contractual relationship, both under differing theoretical approaches and under existing labour law principles.The contemporary employment relationship emerges from a contractual undertaking between individuals to exchange wages for services, but its social significance is not limited to the issues raised by the terms of the contract.

New Fusion Operations for Digitized Binary Images and Their Applications

This paper proposes a new class of fusion operations which are useful for binary image processing. To begin with, an algorithm for the classical fusion operations is presented. They are sequentially composed of two basic operations, that is, expansion and contraction. The strategy of the proposed algorithm is as follows: the first operation is performed with the distance transformation, and the second operation utilizes the distance information obtained in the first operation. Next, a topological contraction and a topological expansion are defined. The topological contraction preserves the Euler number of an input image except that some simply connected components of 1 pixels are erased. The topological expansion preserves the Euler number of an input image except that some simply connected holes are filled. Then, several new fusion operations are obtained by combining the classical contraction and the topological expansion (or, the classical expansion and the topological contraction) sequentially. The algorithms for them use the same strategy as the proposed algorithm for the classical fusion operations. Finally, experimental results show that the new fusion operations and their combinations are effectively used in the binary image processing, such as shape smoothing, merging and separating connected components, and structure analysis.

Relationism: Legal Theory for a Relational Society

Any theory of law that by virtue of its emphasis on law courts and on enforceable remedies focuses mainly on the individual, the State, regulation, and the discrete transactions of the marketplace, is woefully incomplete. It fails to address the broad realm of interaction between the colossal institutions and organizations that dominate advanced societies, and it neglects the way in which law functions as law among them. One common theme underlies the intense dissatisfaction with the formal legal ordering of industrial relations, ongoing contracts, and international law: on account of the character of relations between the parties, their conduct is far removed from the demands of the formal legal order. This dissatisfaction can be found, for example, in the work of an English royal commission on industrial relations.' It was also reflected in the work of the Uniform Commercial Code Commission that adapted the law of contracts to the practices and needs of commerce,2 and it is expressed today in the perceived inadequacy of legal remedies for breaches of sovereign loan agreements.8 Scholars have voiced their dissatisfaction. Clyde Summers, for example, observed that the law of contracts so far as it consists of specific legal rules, has little relevance for collective agreements,4 and Ian Macneil has criticized the transactional bias of classical contract law. This critique is so persistent and uniform that I have been led to question some familiar and powerful views about legal ordering. It is my position that the much lamented inadequacies in the law of industrial relations, in the law of contracts, and in international law

Contracts between Businessmen: Reform of the Law of Firm Offers and an Empirical Study of Tendering Practices in the Building Industry

This article examines the role of a particular area of the law of contract in a specific commercial context involving the relationship of a general building contractor and a sub-contractor. The focus is upon the formation of agreement through the submission of bids to carry out work put out to tender. An empirical examination of the attitudes of these builders to the tendering procedure has been carried out and is related to a Law Commission proposal to change the law on firm offers. To what extent do those in business rely on legal sanction as a method of guaranteeing the expectations to which a promise may give rise? The aim of the article is to provide a case study for Weber's discussion of the extent the law of contract is required to support the development of commercial relations in a market economy. The article forms a part of but a limited literature empirically examining the use and non-use of law by the business community. [1] It also reflects upon the legitimising force of the general principles of classical contract law and considers the difficulties of those, such as the Law Commission, who continue to refine these principles when faced with the specific circumstances of a particular relationship.

The Ages of Classical Contract Law

The Ages of Classical Contract Law

A Contractual Reformulation of Certain Aspects of Welfare Economics

Within the discipline of welfare economics, one tradition-the BergsonSamuelson tradition-has been dominant for over a quarter of a century. The most basic concept in this tradition is the social welfare ordering or social welfare function. This represents the judgments of some private individual, public official or ethical observer concerning what is better or worse for society. Certain restrictions are placed on the form such an ordering may take; these represent ethical judgments which, it is presumed, anyone who orders social alternatives would or should accept. These ethical judgments are the Paretian ones. Sometimes a writer argues that his own moral intuitions about the rightness or reasonableness of the Paretian value judgments are so strong that he feels everyone should accept them. (This seems to be Samuelson's (1977) own position.) Other writers argue, although usually without supporting evidence, that, as a matter of fact, almost everyone does have such moral intuitions (e.g. Graaff, 1957, p.9; Mishan, 1960, p.199). In either case the Paretian value judgments are treated as axiomatic for welfare economics. They are not to be derived from anything more fundamental. So long as there is no dispute about the status and force of Paretian principles this procedure is unexceptionable. However it is inadequate if a justification is sought for the principles in question. Usually economists have not given this question much thought. Some (e.g. Graaff, 1957, p.9) have suggested in passing that Paretian principles embody an individualist or liberal ethic, but they have not shown why this is the case. Moreover, recent work has cast doubt on the idea that Paretian social choice theory is compatible with liberalism (e.g. Sen, 1970b; Sugden, 1978). We propose to provide a justification for Paretian principles, and to do this we turn to another tradition in political philosophy and welfare economics, namely social contract theory. In its modern version this theory begins with the idea of an original position, corresponding to the state of nature in classical contract theory, in which all persons are equally free, rational and self-interested, and in which each is located behind a of about his or her place in society (cf. Rawls, 1972, pp.11-17). Ideas of social choice are accordingly understood as those principles that would be agreed by all persons behind the veil of ignorance as rules to govern the terms of their association. To us at least this theory is an appealing device for systematizing those ethical convictions that would otherwise have to be treated as underived axioms within welfare economics. We shall show that the theory provides a justification for Paretian principles. More importantly, we shall argue, it provides a justification for other principles, which some writers have wished to add to the Paretian corpus, but for which no rationale could be found within the framework of the Bergson-Samuelson approach. So, our intention in this paper is to show how social contract theory can form the basis for wel-