Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART I OTHER-REGARDING BEHAVIOR
- PART II THE NORMATIVE JUSTIFICATION
- PART III THE THEORY APPLIED
- 6 Social Cohesion and Autonomy: The Justificational Boundary of Duty
- 7 Social Cohesion and Moral Agency: The Justification for Proximate Cause
- 8 Social Cohesion and Strict Liability
- 9 Using Another's Property
- 10 Product Liability: Social Cohesion and Agency Relationships
- 11 Customer-Centered Enterprise Liability
- 12 Social Cohesion and Knowledge: The Intentional Torts
- PART IV SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
- Index
10 - Product Liability: Social Cohesion and Agency Relationships
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART I OTHER-REGARDING BEHAVIOR
- PART II THE NORMATIVE JUSTIFICATION
- PART III THE THEORY APPLIED
- 6 Social Cohesion and Autonomy: The Justificational Boundary of Duty
- 7 Social Cohesion and Moral Agency: The Justification for Proximate Cause
- 8 Social Cohesion and Strict Liability
- 9 Using Another's Property
- 10 Product Liability: Social Cohesion and Agency Relationships
- 11 Customer-Centered Enterprise Liability
- 12 Social Cohesion and Knowledge: The Intentional Torts
- PART IV SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
- Index
Summary
The other-regarding behavior of product sellers has been the object of intense scrutiny for over half a century, developing product liability law into a seemingly distinct branch of tort law. Yet the product liability “revolution” has come into focus over the last couple of decades, and it appears now to be different than it initially appeared. When we reexamine developments in product liability law through justificational lenses, we understand them in a new way.
THE JUSTIFICATIONAL ERRORS
My account of product liability law emphasizes its close relationship to the negligence concept. My account is therefore a major departure from most contemporary stories of product liability. It is generally thought, for example, that “products liability law” is a unique legal regime, self-contained and separated from the negligence regime applicable to other activities. A small industry has grown up advancing this position, producing product liability casebooks, treatises, and restatements, carefully justifying the regime's individual identity and content. Often the regime is thought of as “strict products liability,” although I demonstrate below that the term strict liability is largely a misnomer when applied to product liability law.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Tort Law and Social Morality , pp. 194 - 213Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010