法恩思沃斯的生平及其学术贡献

2005年1月的最后一天,美国乃至当今世界最负盛名的合同法大师、哥伦比亚大学法学院教授艾伦·法恩思沃斯(Allan Farnsworth,1928-2005)因病不治,在他新泽西的家中安然辞世,享年76岁.法恩思沃斯的去世对美国和世界法学来说都是一个巨大的损失.其人生轨迹与学术贡献在相当程度上展现了美国合同法历史沿革与理论风向.     

In Defence of Quasi‐Contract

Restitution scholars are almost unanimous in rejecting the term quasi‐contract. This essay challenges this view. It begins by demonstrating that many debates among restitution scholars are in fact debates about the boundaries of consent‐based liability. This serves as an introduction to the main thesis advanced, which is that the idea of quasi‐contract, which is supposed to cover cases in which the parties would have made a contract if conditions allowed them to do so, helps to explain the doctrine better than the conclusory language of unjust enrichment. The essay concludes by situating the argument within the growing literature on the normative foundations of restitution. It argues that quasi‐contractual liability should be understood not as part of unjust enrichment, but as a different basis of liability that can help us see what liability for unjust enrichment might be: liability grounded in notions of fairness.