Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Law
Legal Interpretation: The Window Of The Text As Transparent, Opaque, Or Translucent, George H. Taylor
Legal Interpretation: The Window Of The Text As Transparent, Opaque, Or Translucent, George H. Taylor
Articles
It is a common metaphor that the text is a window onto the world that it depicts. In legal interpretation, the metaphor has been developed in two ways – the legal text as transparent or opaque – and the Article proposes a third – the legal text as translucent. The claim that the legal text is transparent has been associated with more liberal methodological approaches. According to this view (often articulated by critics), the legal text does not markedly delimit meaning. Delimitation comes from the interpreters. By contrast, stress on the opacity of the legal text comes from those who …
Can A Theory Of Interpretation Make A Difference?, George H. Taylor
Can A Theory Of Interpretation Make A Difference?, George H. Taylor
Articles
Can a theory of interpretation make a difference? The question has been posed most prominently by Judge Richard Posner, who, in recent work, has criticized the ability to make a difference of both theory writ large and of a theory of interpretation in particular. In other work I contend, contrary to Posner, that a theory of interpretation can make a difference at the level of methodology. Using the example of constitutional and statutory interpretation in law, I develop a theory that argues for the propriety and value of certain methods of interpretation over others. In the present essay, my concern …