From chaos to cosmos - or is it confusion?

Abstract

This article looks at attempts which have been, and are being, made to synthesise certain aspects of the English law of obligations or even to codify them. I point out that while some of these attempts have been successful, a number of others have created serious problems of their own. The conclusion is that before one tries to encapsulate the rules of English (or even European) law into ever more abstract propositions, these difficulties should be borne in mind and a degree of scepticism employed.