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"An Unqualified Human Good": E.P. Thompson And The Rule Of Law, Daniel H. Cole

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The late EP Thompson described himself as "a historian in the Marxist tradition." But when he embraced the Rule of Law (in Whigs and Hunters), many of his colleagues on the left ostracized him as an apostate. This essay argues that Thompson's critics have largely misunderstood what he meant by the Rule of Law. His was a minimal and historical conception, which merely sought to distinguish states whose rulers had unfettered discretion from states whose rulers were constrained by legal rules, whatever their source and contents. Also, in contrast to other radical theorists, Thompson recognized that law would be a …