Scholars have produced a wide variety of theoretical work on contract law. This is the first book to compile it, to present it coherently, to evaluate it, and to supply numerous references to additional sources. The author also offers his own practical perspective that emphasizes contract law's richness and complexity and questions the utility of abstract unitary theories. The author argues that, notwithstanding contract law's complexity, it successfully facilitates the formation and enforcement of private arrangements and ensures a degree of fairness in the process of exchange. Each chapter presents a pair of largely contrasting theories to clarify the central issue of contract law and theory, to set forth the range of views, and to help identify a practical middle ground. Among the contract theories discussed and analyzed are promise, contextual, feminist, formal, mainstream, critical, economic, empirical, and relational. The book should interest legal theorists, practising lawyers, law students, and general readers who want to learn more about contract law and theory.

1 Theories of Contract: Promise and Non-Promissory Principles.- A. Contract As Promise.- B. Non-Promissory Principles.- Conclusion.- 2 Theories of Promissory Estoppel: Reliance and Promise.- A. Reliance Theorists.- B. Promise Theorists.- Conclusion.- 3 Theories of Contractarians and Their Critics: Marriages and Corporations.- A. Marriages.- B. Corporations.- Conclusion.- 4 Theories of Contextualists and Neo-Formalists.- A. Theories of Contextualists.- B. Neo-Formalist Contract Law.- Conclusion.- 5 "Mainstream" Contract Theories and Critical Legal Studies.- A. "Mainstream" Contract Theories.- B. CLS Contract Theory.- Conclusion.- 6 Theories of Economic Analysts of Contract Law and Their Critics.- A. The Theory of Efficient Breach.- B. Economic Theories of Gap Filling.- Conclusion.- 7 Theories of Empiricists and Relationalists.- A. Is Contract Law Irrelevant?.- B. Is Contract Law Unsuitable?.- 8 Modern Contract Law and the Limits of Contract Theory.- A. What is the Nature of Modern Contract Law?.- B. What is the Role of Contract Law in Modern Society?.