Dreaming Law

Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law of different countries; it includes the description and analysis of foreign legal systems. The importance of comparative law has increased enormously in the present age of a global environment. Comparative lawyers have to deal with many questions: What is law at home and abroad, what are legal rules here and there? How can we compare the largely unknown? The author Prof. Dr. Bernhard Grossfeld answers as follows: Law is not fully explainable or understandable in scientific terms. It is part of a people´s identity as an imagined community and stands for a common dream, e.g. an American dream or a German dream. Geography and communications with signs form these dreams. Guided by Semiotics, the theory and study of signs and symbols, Grossfeld describes how the physical world and the networks based on particular signs (language, letters, numbers and pictures) interact with each other. They build our mental framework and influence the content of our thoughts – expressed in social behavior and interaction, some parts of which we call law. In various chapters Grossfeld decodes the connections of religion, literature, poetry, music and mathematics with law. His perceptions are substantiated by many quotations. With this book comparative lawyers get precious insights and support for their work. Prof. Grossfeld received his J.D. from the University of Münster, Germany, and earned an LL.M. from Yale Law School, USA. He is a member em. of the law faculty at the University of Münster. As director of the Institute for International Business Law at Münster he set standards in his main fields of work International Company Law and Comparative Law. He lectured on five continents. His publications go beyond the classical borders of jurisprudence and establish connections to both economics and natural sciences. His books are published in various languages.