Western Legal Prehistory: Reconstructing the Hidden Origins of Western Law and Civilization
KAR (DO NOT DELETE) 10/15/2012 10:07 AM WESTERN LEGAL PREHISTORY: RECONSTRUCTING THE HIDDEN ORIGINS OF WESTERN LAW AND CIVILIZATION Robin Bradley Kar* * Professor of Law and Philosophy, Thomas Mengler Faculty Scholar, University of Illinois College of Law. B.A., Harvard University, J.D. Yale Law School, PhD (Philosophy), University of Michigan. Thank you to the following persons for very useful comments and conversations relating to this topic: Laura Amrhein, Amitai Aviram, Nicholas Biersbach, Edwin Bryant, Chandana and Kisor Chakrabar- ti, Dhammika Dharmapala, Christopher Fennell, Matthew Finkin, Eric Freyfogle, Dan Hamilton, Bob Lawless, John Lindo, Peter Maggs, Lucas Pendry, Larry Ribstein, Jacqueline Ross, Richard Ross, Malcolm Ross, Arden Rowell, Trevor Scheetz, Larry Solum, Suja Thomas, Tom Ulen, and Cynthia Williams. Special thanks for inspiration and thoughtful input go to Mike Ayres, Larry Solum, and my father. All errors are mine. 1499 KAR (DO NOT DELETE) 10/15/2012 10:07 AM 1500 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LAW REVIEW [Vol. 2012 Western legal prehistory aims to reconstruct some of the earliest proto-legal and cultural developments that gave rise to Western legal systems and the rule of law. So construed, our understanding of Western legal prehistory is currently highly undeveloped. One reason for this fact is methodological: without the aid of written sources, re- constructions of human prehistory can prove difficult. Recent ad- vances in a broad range of cognate fields have, however, now accu- mulated past a critical tipping point, and we are now in a secure enough position to begin to reconstruct important aspects of Western legal prehistory.
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