The Concept of Equity & Practising Equity, Addressing Law

Vol. 1: The Concept of Equity. An Interdisciplinary Assessment. Vol. 2: Practising Equity, Addressing Law. Equity in Law and Literature. Edited by Daniela Carpi.

In the first volume, 21 essays provide an appraisal of the historical and comparative aspects of the concept of equity in English and German law and literatures. The 24 essays of the second volume discuss equity as a legal, ethical and linguistic concept from the perspective of (early) modern English literature and suggest that equity, given its normative and at the same time deconstructive nature, somewhat eludes rational argumentation and beckons beyond the sphere of reality. - In the history of human ideas the problem of equity has been inseparable from that of justice. Equity is synonymous with ideal justice, since when a norm is rigidly applied in such a way so as not to correspond in a concrete case to the ideal of justice, justice itself is impaired. The aim of the first volume, an appraisal of the historical and comparative aspects of the concept of equity in English and German law and literatures, is to foreground and discuss two major points: interest in equity as a principle of justice is enhanced in periods of rapid transition; many of the difficulties and ambiguities that arise when any attempt is made to offer a convincing, comparatively permanent concept of equity derive from the fact that the notion cannot be based on objective and unchanging criteria. The literary field, with its fictional discourses, gives evidence of how European literatures have always been concerned with the ethical debate, the problem of equity and the quest for shared ethics. The interdisciplinary aspect of this volume - involving law in connection with the literary and economic discourse considered in a European perspective - is meant to widen the scope of the proposed problem of equity in terms adequate to the European context and to the complex relationships of contemporary societies. The 24 essays of the second volume demonstrate how lively and active the debate on equity has been and how difficult it is to find a concluding word on this topic. In literature a new idea concerning equity is slowly being shaped. The discourse offered by literature is of an alternative kind; we are reminded of the utopian function of equity in Plato's Republic, where it aims at transcending reality and the mimetic description of it. There is something mysterious about equity: we cannot grasp it easily in terms of rational argumentation. It is all about norm and its inversion; at the same time it is deconstructive. Thus sometimes equity appears to be beyond the sphere of reality and takes us into a mysterious and incomprehensible world. - Contributions by Claire Estryn/Eric Freedman/Richard Weisberg, Ian Ward, Piergiuseppe Monateri, George M. Williams Jr., Mauro Bussani/Francesca Fiorentini, Eugene O'Brian, Heinz Antor, Federico Testa/Marta Ugolini, Arthur Jacobson, György E. Szönyi, Giuseppina Restivo, Daniela Carpi, John Scaggs, Yvonne Bezrucka, Susana Onega, Carla Sassi, Rüdiger Ahrens, Isolde Schiffermüller, Walter Busch, Chiara Battisti, Jeanne Gaakeer, Eric Rabkin, Cristina Costantini, Gary Watt, Leif Dahlberg, Ian Ward, Chiara Battisti, Maria Migliazza, Heinz Antor, Paul Raffield, Paola Baseotto, Giuseppina Restivo, Regina M. Schwartz, Richard Cave, Klaus Stierstorfer, Patrizia Nerozzi Bellman, Yvonne Bezrucka, Rüdiger Ahrens, Mara Logaldo, Daniela Carpi, Sidia Fiorato, Cristina Gatti, Marina Bondi/Davide Mazzi, and Paola Vettorel. Zwei Bände, zus. 817 Seiten mit 16 Tab., gebunden (Anglistische Forschungen; Vol. 374+391/Universitätsverlag Winter 2007/2008) Band 2 mit leichten Lagerspuren/minor shelfwear to 2nd volume