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Are There Nothing But Texts In This Class? Interpreting The Interpretive Turns In Legal Thought, Robin West
Are There Nothing But Texts In This Class? Interpreting The Interpretive Turns In Legal Thought, Robin West
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Allan Hutchinson remarks at the beginning of his interesting article that Gadamer's writings have had only a peripheral influence on legal scholarship -- only occasionally cited, and then begrudgingly so, and never given the serious attention they deserve or require. Nevertheless, Hutchinson acknowledges, Gadamerian influences can be noted -- particularly in the now widely shared understanding that adjudication is, fundamentally, an interpretive exercise. Even with this qualification, though, I think Hutchinson understates Gadamer's impact. Whatever may be true of Gadamer's influence in other disciplines, his influence in law has been unambiguously both broad and deep -- although it has come …
Integrity And Universality: A Comment On Dworkin's Freedom's Law, Robin West
Integrity And Universality: A Comment On Dworkin's Freedom's Law, Robin West
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Ronald Dworkin has done more than any other constitutional lawyer, past or present, to impress upon us the importance of integrity to constitutional law, and hence to our shared public life. Far from being merely a private virtue, Dworkin has shown that integrity imposes constraints upon and provides guidance to the work of judges in constitutional cases: Every constitutional case that comes before a court must be decided by recourse to the same moral principles that have dictated results in relevant similar cases in the past. Any group or individual challenging the constitutionality of legislation which adversely affects his or …