THE SOUNDNESS OF FREE WILL AS A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF CHILEAN CONTRACT LAW

Faced with the question of the foundations of the binding effects of contracts, the free will principle dominates the Chilean dogmatic analyses as the cornerstone of contract law. Despite its ascendancy, this traditional approach hides methodological and substantive tensions that ultimately compromise its ability to comprehend contemporary contractual practice correctly, especially as it seeks to account for contract law as a whole. In this regard, this paper pursues a double objective: to expose these tensions from a dogmatic perspective and to explain in what sense the methodological commitments this approach assumes require, at least, reconsideration.