Ethics and the Science of Legislation: Legislators, Philosophers, and Courts in Eighteenth-Century Scotland
Ethics and the Science of Legislation: Legislators, Philosophers, and Courts in Eighteenth-Century Scotland
This chapter examines how the jurisprudence of the Scottish Enlightenment influenced the reform of the Court of Session and its procedure. It first provides an overview of legislation and courts in eighteenth-century Scotland before discussing the idea of the ‘legislator’, with particular emphasis on some of the attitudes taken to it and the ambiguities of the term. It then considers the development of ethical theory in Scotland during the period, along with Adam Smith's legal philosophy. It also analyses Smith's science of legislation and its implications in the context of Scottish legal history. It concludes by showing how Scottish rejection of ethical rationalism and Smith's science of legislation provided what can be described as a sustained critique of the contemporary structure of the Court of Session and of its operation.
Keywords: jurisprudence, reform, Court of Session, legislation, courts, legislator, Adam Smith, legal philosophy, science of legislation, ethical rationalism
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