Review of 'Institutionalized Reason: The Jurisprudence of Robert Alexy', Matthias Klatt, Ed. (Oxford University Press, 2012)

Abstract

Institutionalized Reason is a collection of essays whose aim is to explore the relationship among rights, morality and law using the work of Robert Alexy as an anchor. The book grew out of a symposium held at New College, Oxford, in 2008. The specific focus of this book is Alexy’s work on constitutional law and legal philosophy, particularly his work regarding the nature of law, the nature of legal argumentation, and the nature of constitutional rights. Edited by Matthias Klatt, Professor of Law at the University of Hamburg, this book is a collaboration with leading scholars of legal philosophy and constitutional rights. The result is a collection of essays that not only allow the reader to gain a general understanding of Alexy’s main ideas (with some of their strengths and challenges), but also provides the reader with an integrated understanding of the actors and debates (within the Western/Northern tradition) that Alexy’s work is, directly and indirectly, in dialogue with.

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This book review is much heftier than ordinary reviews for two reasons. The first is that the book is a collection of essays, which renders the review longer due to the necessity of having to encounter (in perhaps too superficial a way in most instances) a number of themes and authors. The second reason is that the book is a collection of works by leading scholars in the field working in Western/Northern institutions but focusing on an author who is not as well known as he ought to be to the North American scholarly audience. As such, the review includes a short biographical note on Alexy, and provides (what I believe is) some apt criticism.

Keywords: Legal Education; Legal Scholarship; Taxation; Income Tax; International Tax; Transnational Law