Abstract
When Justice Holmes reminds us that the earliest forms of contract in common law are covenant and debt, we want to be aware that, of these, debt is the elemental form.1 The covenant, related to the promise under seal after the Norman invasion, is a distinct kind of promise. It represents, as sign, evidence and fact, which are themselves the outcome of a preparatory legal procedure. Debt, that is, the history of the action of debt in law, is more ancient and nearly universal throughout legal systems. It is tied to the doctrine of consideration, and, as is well known, consideration was rarely if ever required for contracts under seal. Consideration, in layman’s terms, is equivalent to the proof of the existence of a contract. Proof takes a number of forms, but each of these forms may be regarded as a variation in the act of attesting to an agreement of quid pro quo.2
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Notes
See especially Peirce’s letters to William James (1958:8313-315).
See Toulmin (1959).
See Berman on the use of the quaestiones (1983:148–151).
See Dickinson (1940:149–161).
See Holmes (1881/1963:191–264).
See Holmes (1881/1963:227).
In The Common Law (188 1/1963) Holmes shows that assumpsit is a later development in law than liability in debt.
See Holmes (1881/1963:215).
See Plamenatz on consent (1968:20 ff., 108, 109).
See Holmes (1881/1963:208).
See Holmes (1881/1963:316, 317).
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© 1988 Plenum Press, New York
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Kevelson, R. (1988). Contracts and Equivalences. In: The Law as a System of Signs. Topics in Contemporary Semiotics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0911-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0911-6_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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