ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines positive criticisms of neoclassical law and economics from the viewpoint of Austrian economics. It further outlines one such alternative, based on Kantian ethics, represented by Kantian critiques of the standard approach to tort law in law and economics scholarship. From a Kantian perspective, people find many aspects of the treatment of tort law in normative law and economics objectionable. The notions of hypothetical compensation, reciprocal causation, and the instrumental nature of rights, all essential to the analysis of tort law in neoclassical law and economics, are all inconsistent with a Kantian respect for the dignity of persons. Austrians argue that economics cannot give people a complete theory of law, and Kantians argue it should not even if it could. The neoclassical theory of law and economics depends on information that is impossible to obtain, and ultimately relies on its own conclusions.
