ABSTRACT
Corrective justice theory claims to explain the bipolar structure of tort law in a non-reductive manner that preserves its centrality to tort law. It begins by purporting to find analytical errors of the economist. The core principle of corrective justice, on Coleman's view, is that a person who causes a wrongful loss in another has a duty to rectify that loss. The economic theory also misses out on the central idea of compensation in tort law. When courts impose liability on a defendant and require that he pay the plaintiff, they are doing something quite special - they are forcing defendants to compensate, or to "make whole", the plaintiff. Responses to the structural critique fall into three broad categories: the ad hoc instrumentalist, the global instrumentalist, and the pluralist. Weinrib's subtle and sophisticated philosophical work on formalism has now generated a substantial secondary literature.
