Agreements: A Philosophical and Legal Study

Combining rigorous philosophical analysis with a deep knowledge of law, this study of agreements illuminates legal doctrine by philosophical theory and vice versa. Against the prevailing philosophical view of agreements, the book argues that they are to be understood in terms not of promises but of offer and acceptance. Topics covered include the obligations associated with agreements; the practical reasoning that leads parties to make and perform agreements; the relation between agreement and intention; and the reasons the State has to intervene in agreements. There are also separate chapters devoted to doctrines of agreement in the laws of contract, competition and conspiracy.

Oliver Black is Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Law at King's College London. He is also a practising solicitor, working as Counsel at Linklaters LLP, where he is head of the UK procurement law practice. He has taught at Cambridge and been a fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Conceptual Foundations of Antitrust (Cambridge University Press, 2005) and has published articles on a variety of topics in philosophy and law.