Past the Pillars of Hercules: Francis Bacon and the Science of Rulemaking
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Vol. 46, No. 2, 2013
Boston College Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 295
45 Pages Posted: 9 Apr 2013
Date Written: April 8, 2013
Abstract
The parallels between Francis Bacon’s career and that of Edward H. Cooper are obvious. Bacon was one of the great legal minds of his day and, unlike the common law judges who formed the law by deciding cases, Bacon expressed his greatness in writing brilliant juristic treatises and, as Lord Chancellor, drafting one of the first modern rule systems, the Ordinances in Chancery (1617-1620). My thesis is that Bacon invented modern, scientific rulemaking by fusing his new theories of inductive, empirical research with the traditions of equitable pleading, and is, in fact, the intellectual forebearer of the likes of Charles Clark, Benjamin Kaplan, and Edward Cooper.
Keywords: jurisprudence, common law, legal history
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