Advanced Introduction to Legal Reasoning

by Larry Alexander, Emily Sherwin

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas.

This insightful and highly readable Advanced Introduction provides a succinct, yet comprehensive, overview of legal reasoning, covering both reasoning from canonical texts and legal decision-making in the absence of rules. Overall, it argues that there are only two methods by which judges decide legal disputes: deductive reasoning from rules and unconstrained moral, practical, and empirical reasoning.






discussion and analysis of the interpretive methods used in legal decision-making

guidance for the reader through the debates on analogical reasoning and construction of legal principles

a defense of intention-based interpretation of legal rules and natural reasoning in law.


This Advanced Introduction will be an invaluable resource for students looking for an overview of the subject. It will also be useful for legal practitioners, scholars, and judges.

200 pages, Hardcover

Published May 28, 2021

About the author

Larry Alexander is Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego.