Talk:Contract

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Archives /Archive 01 /Archive 02

[edit] Offer and Acceptance/Unilateral Contract query

I think the definition of a unilateral contract is wrong - the bit about the offer being open to the whole world, basically. Black's concurs with me, but I thought I'd throw it out to the discussion page rather than just change the article, because I'm not really all that good at contracts (hence my referring to the wikipedia page ;). Eionm 09:06, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

What does Black's say? enochlau (talk) 11:19, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Black's says "A contract in which only one party makes a promise or undertakes a performance", then gives a couple of quotes from treatises. Eionm 05:00, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, I see what you mean. Because of what they are, I think they are typically made to the whole world, but that's not the definition. I've changed it in the body of this article to reflect what is in my legal dictionary. enochlau (talk) 22:06, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

The change looks good, thanks. Eionm 05:00, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Italic text

[edit] Added generalize tag

I've added a generalize tag because this article seems overly focused on the legal aspects of contract (rather than, say, the social, economic, or historical aspects - contracts aren't merely legal). This was discussed a bit above, but I don't think my concerns have really been dealt with (and I don't know enough about those other aspects to be able to address them myself). Elliotreed 05:40, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm removing your tag because I'm not sure what you want. Contracts are quite legal. And it is a law page, after all. I suppose there are other concepts related to contract - like the "social contract" for instance. "Property" and "Property law" are two separate pages. So perhaps you have a point, and maybe we could move the page to "Contract law" - but I'm not sure what the page on "Contract" without the law would say, exactly. Wikidea 07:58, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

For once I've found something I can agree on with Wikidea! I concur with Wikidea's point. --Coolcaesar 19:27, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I think Elliotreed has a good point. The intricacies of modern contract law are fascinating to some readers, but a lighter, shorter article that simply covers the basics of contracts -- with a link to contract law -- would be helpful. When I put a wikilink to contract in an article, I don't mean to send the reader into the details of contract law, complete with case references. I just want them to understand, say, the difference between a contract and one guy saying to another, "I'll see you tomorrow." --SueHay 00:07, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

The problem then is, where do you draw the line? The ideal article, instead I think, would be one that covers both in the same article, but with clearly delineated sections (getting progressively deeper in content). enochlau (talk) 06:35, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

I can see where you're coming from Sue, but as I said above to Elliot, I'm just not quite sure what else would go in the contract article, without the law... Wikidea 20:24, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Does anyone have a trusty dead-tree encyclopedia around? What do they talk about in an article about contracts? enochlau (talk) 22:33, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't have a full-blown dead-tree encyclopedia around, but I have an "old" dictionary - Random House, 1975. The first definition of contract is "an agreement between two or more parties for the doing or not doing of something specified." The second definition is "an agreement enforceable by law". The Wicktionary definition

doesn't mention the first meaning, but I think it's is important to mention in a general contract article that not all contracts are legally enforceable contracts. Can someone check the 1911 encyclopedia on this? If someone delivers produce locally on a regular schedule to customers who expect delivery from him, but they have no formal legal contract for delivery, what would you call that agreement? --SueHay 02:03, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

p.s. Will someone please ARCHIVE this talk page, because some of us have slow connections and the page load time is lousy. --SueHay 02:03, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, the law will indeed enforce as a contract the regularly scheduled delivery of produce if, through a course of conduct, each party can be said to have assented to a continuation of this course of conduct. bd2412 T 03:17, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

I think perhaps those people who are advocating splitting this into two articles are under the (common) misapprehension that all "contracts" must be written, and it is contract law itself that helps you to identify what exactly is a contract - so, discussion of a "contract" and "contract law" should remain in the same article. enochlau (talk) 03:52, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

The thing I was trying to get at was that contracts are a legal topic, but I think an encyclopedia article about a legal topic doesn't need to cover only the specifically legal aspects - that is, the current state of the doctrine. I think it should take a more interdisciplinary approach. For example, more about the history of the contract would be good. (What do sociologists have to say about the process in which contracts are negotiated?) Elliotreed 02:13, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

You mean sociology of law itself? That is a really obscure field. Digging up all the sociology of professions material for Lawyer was a real pain in the neck for me. I doubt the few people who understand sociology of law are going to be interested in making a free contribution to Wikipedia. They're too busy trying to publish before they perish, as academic types say.

Also, you have to distinguish between comparative law and sociology of law. Comparative law is like, Society A has elements 1, 2, 3 to make a contract, and Society B has elements 4, 5, 6. Sociology of law would say that Society A's elements reflect one underlying philosophy or culture and Society B's elements reflect another. Either way, these are really abstruse and complex discussions and are way, way too deep for the casual Wikipedia reader who is curious about contracts. The few people capable of doing that level of research will be publishing it in their Ph.D. dissertation, not Wikipedia! --Coolcaesar 06:12, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

First, thanks for the archive, bd2412 T! Next, I'd like to suggest that someone who's looking up contract in Wikipedia might be looking for the legal definition, might be want to understand the way the term is used (or abused) in something he/she is reading, or might want to know the history of the term. Can this article lightly cover all areas, with section for more information, please see links to more details? Just an idea. --SueHay 23:38, 19 March 2007 (UTC)