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William & Mary Business Law Review

Symposium: Morality, Markets, and Contract Law

Introduction

The Center for the Study of Law and Markets at William & Mary Law School held its inaugural symposium on Friday, April 7. The event will bring together leading contract law theorists to examine the relationship between markets and the moral foundations of contract law.

Discussions will take as their starting point themes from the recently published book The Dignity of Commerce: Markets and the Moral Foundations of Contract Law (University of Chicago Press 2017) by Professor Nathan B. Oman, the Rollins Professor of Law at William & Mary.

In his book, Professor Oman argues that markets are morally desirable for a variety of reasons other than their ability to efficiently allocate resources, and that contract law exists primarily to support such markets. Participants will present papers related to themes such as the moral status of markets, the normative justification of contract law, and the relationship between well-functioning markets and legal institutions.