Law Commons^™

Wittgenstein's Instructive Narratives: Leaving The Lessons Latent, Thomas D. Eisele

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Philosophical Investigations is one of the great works about instruction, as Stanley Cavell says, because it is a great work of instruction. It dot::s not simply tell us about instruction; it shows us instruction in action-by instructing us. But it does this in a disconcerting way; it instructs us indirectly or latently. And often it uses stories to do this.

Wittgenstein rarely states a thesis or a conclusion that he then wants us simply to approve or accept. Rather, he directs our attention to some fact or phenomenon and invites our response to it, sometimes by giving us his response …

The Activity Of Being A Lawyer: The Imaginative Pursuit Of Implications And Possibilities, Thomas D. Eisele

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

If law as an activity emerged naively and unpremeditated, as a direction of attention pursued without premonition of what it would lead to, then by now it has hollowed out a character for itself, as Oakeshott says, and has become specified in a "practice." Having acquired this firmness of character, as Oakeshott further says, law may present itself as a puzzle, thus provoking reflection. Thinking about law in this manner or mood is something that I wish to call "philosophy of law," and this is itself an honorable activity with a character and mannerisms of its own.2 In law school, …

Must Virtue Be Taught?, Thomas D. Eisele

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Faith, Hope, And The Law Teacher: A Reaction To Professor Levinson, Joseph P. Tomain

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In this symposium, the editors have assigned the commentators a difficult task by requesting a response to Professor Levinson's speech. I disagree with little, if any, of what Professor Levinson has written.

Professor Levinson's article of faith stands poised between modernist and postmodernist sentiments about law and contains a degree of skepticism that I understand, share, and find uncomfortable. The modernism in Levinson's remarks, as I see it, is contained in his recognition (and partial acceptance) of paradox and contradiction in law, and his consequent rejection of, or agnosticism toward, legal dogma as the Way to Truth and Justice. As …

Lawyering In First-Year Property, Joseph P. Tomain

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This essay discusses the use of a role-playing exercise in a large (70-100 students), first-year Property II course. The central focus of the course is land use. The author uses a Board of Adjustment hypothetical, with students in the roles of lawyer, client, expert, and member of the Board of Adjustment. I first used the problem to encourage fact analysis. Even second-semester first-year students too easily ignore facts and focus on the "rules of law" seemingly to the exclusion of all else. After using this method, however, it became apparent that many more learning opportunities present themselves. In addition to …

On Choosing Clients And Careers: A Speculative Essay On The Problems Of Initial Choice, Joseph P. Tomain

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This paper deals with the moral dimensions of initial choices of careers and clients. Although the foregoing tale is addressed to the initial choice of career, similar considerations enter into the initial choice of clients. The problems of initial career choice were highlighted because they are more immediate to law students.' In addition, one's choice of career may have a significant effect on future choices of clients.

In order for a lawyer to make an initial choice of either career or client, moral questions of the first rank must be answered. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these …

In Memoriam Of Professor George D. Horning Jr., Gordon A. Christenson

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Tribute to legal scholar, George D. Horning Jr.

Studying Law As The Possibility Of Principled Action, Gordon A. Christenson

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

The study of law may be viewed as the critical analysis of a system of logically coherent rules governing action. In the United States, the responsibility for legal education has traditionally fallen upon the law schools. Within the legal profession and law schools a restive spirit now prevails, seeking to further clarify the meaning of that responsibility.' Two responses appear in the law schools, for good or ill.

In Pursuit Of The Art Of Law, Gordon A. Christenson

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

The following is the address given by the author upon his installation as Dean of The American University Law School, on October 31, 1971.