Post on 21-Jul-2020
Taking Legal Fic-onalism SERIOUSLY
David Gawthorne ASLP Conference 2013, Sydney
OVERVIEW
1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
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OVERVIEW
1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
2. Three Grades of Legal Fic-onalism
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OVERVIEW
1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
2. Three Grades of Legal Fic-onalism
3. Rehabilita-ng Legal Formalism
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1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
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1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
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• Fic-onalism in ontology – Field
1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
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• Fic-onalism in ontology – Field
• Legal norms PLUS legal things, i.e. en--es, states of affairs, events.
1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
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1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
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1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
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• Fic-onalism in ontology – Field
• Legal norms PLUS legal things, i.e. en--es, states of affairs, events.
• From a fic-onalist ontology to uniform legal fic-onalism, i.e. incorpora-ng primi-ve norma-ve “facts”.
1. Mo-va-ng Legal Fic-onalism
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• Fic-onalism in ontology – Field
• Legal norms PLUS legal things, i.e. en--es, states of affairs, events.
• From a fic-onalist ontology to uniform legal fic-onalism, i.e. incorpora-ng primi-ve norma-ve “facts”.
• Fic-onal internal/external point of view
2. Three Grades of Legal Fic-onalism
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2. Three Grades of Legal Fic-onalism
• Weak Legal Fic-onalism – Legal reasoning performs an ideological func-on of adver-sing ways the state validates itself (Spector)
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2. Three Grades of Legal Fic-onalism
• Weak Legal Fic-onalism – Legal reasoning performs an ideological func-on of adver-sing ways the state validates itself (Spector)
• Strong Legal Fic-onalism – Respect for the integrity of a fic-onal discourse of law yields reasons for deciding independent of moral & poli-cal reasons
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2. Three Grades of Legal Fic-onalism
• Weak Legal Fic-onalism – Legal reasoning performs an ideological func-on of adver-sing ways the state validates itself (Spector)
• Strong Legal Fic-onalism – Respect for the integrity of a fic-onal discourse of law yields reasons for deciding independent of moral & poli-cal reasons
• Moderate Legal Fic-onalism – A fic-onal basic norm validates a hierarchy of legal norms (Kelsen)
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2. Three Grades of Legal Fic-onalism
Dworkin’s chain novel analogy
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FIT THEORY
2. Three Grades of Legal Fic-onalism
Fic-on fan discourse analogy
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FIT
INTEGRITY
3. Rehabilita-ng Legal Formalism
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3. Rehabilita-ng Legal Formalism
• Legal Formalism =loose def The theory that legal systems always entail a pre-‐existent and transcendent legal domain that is transparent to reason and from which unique “right answers” to all legal controversies can be deduced.
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3. Rehabilita-ng Legal Formalism
• Not that there really is a single right answer, yet the pretence derives a single answer from reasons independent of moral and poli-cal predilec-ons.
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3. Rehabilita-ng Legal Formalism
• Not that there really is a single right answer, yet the pretence derives a single answer from reasons independent of moral and poli-cal predilec-ons.
• Evidence of indeterminacy assumes a concept of law (c.f. Leiter’s American Legal Realism).
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3. Rehabilita-ng Legal Formalism
• Not that there really is a single right answer, yet the pretence derives a single answer from reasons independent of moral and poli-cal predilec-ons.
• Evidence of indeterminacy assumes a concept of law (c.f. Leiter’s American Legal Realism).
• Law aint really law; deduc-on aint really deduc-on.
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Conclusion
• Good reason to carry on? Rule of Law?
• Present focus on legal discourse yielding independent reasons
• A novel approach, reconciling claims of legal formalism with indeterminacy arguments of legal realism
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Thank you.
For a copy of the paper:
thelegalphilosophyproject.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/taking-‐legal-‐fic-onalism-‐seriously
-‐or-‐
goo.gl/1PlWqe