Response by Michael J. Perry
I am deeply grateful to those who planned and administered this Symposium: Professor Ruth Colker and the editors of the Tulane Law Review; and to those who participated—or will participate—in it.
Some of the essays published here use my new book less as an object of critical commentary than as an occasion to reflect on important issues somehow related to the book. Most of the essays, however, consist mainly of critical commentary, sometimes approving, sometimes disapproving, aspects of my book. I have learned much from, and so I prize, both sorts of contributions to the Symposium.
Although I am tempted to use the space allotted me to respond to all the disapproving commentary, or at least to the most important part of it—to try to dodge what Milner Ball has aptly called the “academic rounds” aimed at the book—I shall not do so. I think it is better if I live with such commentary for a while—which, even as it takes me to task, is almost always gracious and, indeed, quite generous—and let its lessons sink in before I try to respond, approvingly or disapprovingly.
About the Author
Michael J. Perry. Professor of Law, Northwestern University.
Citation
63 Tul. L. Rev. 1673 (1989)