Syllabus
This class deals with the nature of legal interpretation, particularly the debate on that matter between Dworkin and legal positivists, but we will also investigate the ways in which Wittgenstein's arguments on rule following are marshalled in support of the various theories of interpretation. There will be one 12-15 page paper due at the end of term.
Our primary text for
the class will be Marmor, Interpretation and Legal Theory but we will also have occasional readings
that supplement this.
|
Date |
Topic |
|
9/11 |
Bix (Questions in legal interp),
Chapter 1 (Semantic Sting Intro) |
|
9/18 |
Chp 2
(Meaning and Interpretation), Moore
(Interpreting Interp) |
|
9/25 |
Chapter 3 (Dworkin’s Theory and the nature of Jurisp.), Perry
(Interp. and Method in Legal Th.) and Marmor’s reply from Positive Law and Obj.
Values |
|
10/2 |
Yom Kippur –
No class |
|
10/9 |
Chp 4
(epistemic foundation), Fish
(Still Wrong) |
|
10/16 |
Chapter 5 (Semantics, Realism, Natural Law), Moore,
Interpretive Turn |
|
10/23 |
Chp 6 (Constructive
Identification and Razian Authority), Raz (Interp wi/out
retrieval) |
|
10/30 |
Chp 7 (No
Easy Cases), Schauer (Rules and the Rule following argument) |
|
11/6 |
Bix (Application and misapplication), Ripstein (Law, Language and Interp)
|
|
11/13 |
Dworkin (No Right Answer?), Wolcher (Dworkin right answers through the lens of witt) |
|
11/20 |
Radin (Rule of Law), Yablon (Law and Metaphysics) |
|
11/29 |
Student Presentations |
|
12/4 |
Student Presentations |