Law Commons^™

American Exceptionalism: The Exception Proves The Rule American, Philip C. Bobbitt

Faculty Scholarship

As a statement about proof, the phrase 'the exception proves the rule' is nonsense. Proof comes from the affirmation of a meaningful proposition, and behavior that contradicts a rule can scarcely be said to confirm it. But consider instead that the word 'prove' at one time meant 'provide,' and then make the substitution. Does the exception provide the rule? Indeed it does. It tells us the boundary conditions for the application of the rule: IT' before "e" except after "c"; months have thirty or thirty-one days, excepting February. This is the case even, perhaps especially, in law: all persons born …