Hatis: The Anti-Theoretical Nature of Civil Law Contract Scholarship and the Need for an Economic Theory The most typical example of this approach is American con- tract law where the battle of the theories is worse than the battle of the forms(cf. Gordley 1991: 230 and Cheffins 1999: 202-206) However. in other Common law countries. the situation is not much different. For example, in England, theories like classical bargain theory and doctrines like privity are often so rigidly applied that they defy even common sense itself(see generally Collins 1993;1999 On the other hand. contract scholars in Civil law countries adopt a very different approach(see generally Merryman 1990) The great majority of studies are purely doctrinal, there are few references to philosophical, economic or other theories(and when there are, they are largely outdated)and the topics are ex tremely restricted, since the discussion on many issues seems to have come to a conclusion and the interpretation of the statutes ap. pears to be exhausted. With the exception of certain"new"issues of some interest, like collective bargaining agreements, standard form contracts and electronic commerce. the rest of the law review articles are analogous to their counterparts in the low-ranking American law reviews and the specialized aba journals Why is there such a marked difference? What is the reason for this almost total absence of theoretical discussion on contract the black-letter law and to train ethical practitioners. See relatively the reactions to his essay in the Symposium(1993), esp. Posner(1993)(even though much of the scholarly output is trivial and ephemeral, this is the unavoidable price of body of creative scholarship that has more practical relevance and value as the- ory compared to the doctrinal formalistic: 8 In the major English and Canadian law journals, there is also an ongoing lively Law, the only specialized journal in the field. See particularly Cheffins(1999 9 This is also true of treatises. The new editions do not contain any significant changes. They usually have just more cases to report(supporting a particular interpretation) and new law review articles to cite, or a more detailed treatment of new developments to includHatzis: The Anti-Theoretical Nature of Civil Law Contract Scholarship and the Need for an Economic Theory 6 The most typical example of this approach is American con￾tract law, where the battle of the theories is worse than the battle of the forms (cf. Gordley 1991: 230 and Cheffins 1999: 202-206). However, in other Common law countries, the situation is not much different. For example, in England, theories like classical bargain theory and doctrines like privity are often so rigidly applied that they defy even common sense itself (see generally Collins 1993; 1999).8 On the other hand, contract scholars in Civil law countries adopt a very different approach (see generally Merryman 1990). The great majority of studies are purely doctrinal, there are very few references to philosophical, economic or other theories (and when there are, they are largely outdated) and the topics are ex￾tremely restricted, since the discussion on many issues seems to have come to a conclusion and the interpretation of the statutes ap￾pears to be exhausted.9 With the exception of certain “new” issues of some interest, like collective bargaining agreements, standard form contracts and electronic commerce, the rest of the law review articles are analogous to their counterparts in the low-ranking American law reviews and the specialized ABA journals. Why is there such a marked difference? What is the reason for this almost total absence of theoretical discussion on contract the black-letter law and to train ethical practitioners. See relatively the reactions to his essay in the Symposium (1993), esp. Posner (1993) (even though much of the scholarly output is trivial and ephemeral, this is the unavoidable price of a body of creative scholarship that has more practical relevance and value as the￾ory compared to the doctrinal formalistic scholarship). 8 In the major English and Canadian law journals, there is also an ongoing lively theoretical debate. See also the contents of the Australian Journal of Contract Law, the only specialized journal in the field. See particularly Cheffins (1999: passim, esp. 200-202). 9 This is also true of treatises. The new editions do not contain any significant changes. They usually have just more cases to report (supporting a particular interpretation) and new law review articles to cite, or a more detailed treatment of new developments to include