Indeterminacy: Critical Notice: Law, Language and Legal Determinacy by Brian Bix

1996 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-409
Author(s):  
Wil Waluchow

It is not easy to summarize what this book is about, except to say that it is an exploration of a variety of themes and a variety of authors on the role of language in the practice of law, the role of theories of language in legal theory, and how all this bears on “the problems of legal determinacy.” By the latter we are to understand problems having to do with whether the law always, almost always, or never provides uniquely correct answers to legal questions like “Does the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms invalidate the Federal government’s ban on tobacco advertising?” or “Is this defendant guilty of defamatory libel?” The works of several authors are discussed, with emphasis placed on Wittgenstein, Friedrich Waismann, Herbert Hart, Ronald Dworkin, Michael Moore, and Lon Fuller. As with the writings of Wittgenstein, who serves as Bix’s philosophical inspiration, it is not always abundantly clear what the discussions all add up to. Nevertheless, it is possible to distil from Bix’s somewhat unfocused discussions the following central themes. These, as Bix himself notes, are linked by nothing stronger than “family resemblance.”

2018 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 05056
Author(s):  
Abdulrahman M.A.Albelahi ◽  
A. Ali ◽  
Faten Mohmed ◽  
Metwally Ali

Since the beginning, legal theory has concerned itself with the establishment of principles and precepts that govern the procedure of legal interpretation, from the initial stages of the judicial reasoning down to the promulgation of ruling and their implementation, Islam is a total way of life. Muslims are obliged to abide by the rules of Allah in every aspect of their lives, always and wherever they live. However, the actual rules of Allah as given in the Qur’an and the sunna are limited. The Qur’an contains only six hundred verses directly related to laws, and there are approximately two thousand hadiths. The function of interpretation is to discover the intention of the Lawmaker of the matter, therefore, interpretat primarily concerned with the discovery of that which is rot self-evident the objective of interpretation is to ascertain the intention c the Lawmaker with regard to what has been left unexpressed as a matter of necessary interference from the surrounding circumstances. Sometimes, the textual sources did not provide detailed guidelines in which to derive the law, and then the role of interpretation is important to determine the law. In Islamic law the role of Ijtihad undoubtedly important in order to meet new problems. But some of the Jurist contended that the role of Ijtihad had ended and we have to follow the rule that has been stated. An explanation given to this trend is that a point had been reached at which all essential question of law had been thoroughly discussed and further deliberation was deemed unnecessary. In Common law, man-made law and legislation are related to one another within a philosophy of law. Parliament makes law and it is the duty of the courts to give effect to them if properly enacted. While courts may rule that a particular statute or section is invalid for various reasons such as unconstitutionality, they cannot say, "We shall change this Act because it is not appropriate". That function belongs to Parliament (Wu Min Aun 1990: 120). So as in Islamic law, the Lawmaker is Allah S.w.t and the sacred text (Quran) is legislated due to His intention whereas Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad is enacted due to the Prophet's intention. Therefore, Ulama of Usul Fiqh, in making any Ijtihad, they are du y bound to be guided by Quran and Sunnah.


1991 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Charlesworth ◽  
Christine Chinkin ◽  
Shelley Wright

The development of feminist jurisprudence in recent years has made a rich and fruitful contribution to legal theory. Few areas of domestic law have avoided the scrutiny of feminist writers, who have exposed the gender bias of apparently neutral systems of rules. A central feature of many western theories about law is that the law is an autonomous entity, distinct from the society it regulates. A legal system is regarded as different from a political or economic system, for example, because it operates on the basis of abstract rationality, and is thus universally applicable and capable of achieving neutrality and objectivity. These attributes are held to give the law its special authority. More radical theories have challenged this abstract rationalism, arguing that legal analysis cannot be separated from the political, economic, historical and cultural context in which people live. Some theorists argue that the law functions as a system of beliefs that make social, political and economic inequalities appear natural. Feminist jurisprudence builds on certain aspects of this critical strain in legal thought. It is much more focused and concrete, however, and derives its theoretical force from immediate experience of the role of the legal system in creating and perpetuating the unequal position of women.


Author(s):  
Nimer Sultany

This chapter critiques the binary dichotomy between the concepts of “continuity” and “rupture” within theoretical conceptualizations of the law. Whereas legal theories such as Kelsen’s emphasize rupture, theories such as Dworkin’s emphasize continuity. These theories fail to account for legal continuity and rupture because the law is neither a gapless system nor a coherent whole. Building on the comparative study of the role of law during revolutions, the chapter shows that a revolution maintains varying levels of legal rupture and continuity with the pre-existing legal order. Building on critical legal theory and social theory, it argues that the relation between revolution and legality cannot be represented systematically because law—whether prior to or after the revolution—is incoherent and thus generates a plurality of voices.


1994 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Wolfe

Leading liberal theorist Ronald Dworkin builds a case against paternalism, rooted in his liberal ethical theory, especially the requirement of ethical integrity. But his case is successful only against less sophisticated forms of paternalism. His argument focuses too much on profound ethical convictions, failing to recognize the frequency with which people hold relatively unreflective convictions and the inevitable role of the law in helping to shape convictions. He makes concessions regarding paternalistic actions that come to be endorsed by the persons who are subject to them, but then tries to impose arbitrary limits on such endorsement. Finally, he rests his case against paternalism on the denial of transcendent standards, but is unable to avoid employing such standards himself. Building a case for certain forms of paternalism in a pluralistic liberal democracy is a difficult but necessary task, that can only proceed after removing fallacious objections like Dworkin's.


Legal Theory ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Soper

Conversions occur in legal theory about as often as they do in religion, which is to say rarely—so rarely that they fascinate as much for the fact that they happen at all as for the reasons they happen. It should not surprise, then, that the Postscript to H.L.A. Hart's famous work on jurisprudence reveals “the outstanding English philosopher of law of the twentieth century” reaffirming, rather than revising in any significant way, the two central tenets that distinguish his theory from that of both classical natural law theorists and modern “new naturalists” like Ronald Dworkin: (1) There is no necessary connection between law and morality; and (2) judges inevitably confront cases where the decision is “not dictated by the law” and the judge “must act as a conscientious legislator would by deciding according to his own beliefs and values” (p. 273).


1987 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. E. Simmonds

In his first book, Taking Rights Seriously, Ronald Dworkin opposed the view that law is a body of publicly ascertainable rules identifiable by some basic master test or rule of recognition. In place of that account he offered a rival vision. Law was portrayed as inherently controversial in content. Discovering the law on this or that subject is not, Dworkin argued, simply a matter of looking up the established rules: it is a matter of constructing a justificatory theory beneath which the established legal rules can be subsumed. In his latest book, Law's Empire, that account of the nature of law has been backed up by an analogous account of the nature of legal theory. A sound theory of law, we are told, is not one that unearths semantic rules governing the use of the word ‘law’. Disputes between rival legal theories do not hinge on the discovery of such deep semantic criteria, any more than disputes about the content of the law in hard cases hinge on the correct application of a rule of recognition. Disputes of both kinds are interpretive disputes: they concern the proper interpretation of legal practices.


Author(s):  
Ronaldo Porto Macedo Jr

Resumo: O trabalho apresenta um esquema conceitual da crítica formulada por Dworkin ao convencionalismo jurídico e seus impactos para a correta descrição do conceito de direito e da compreensão da natureza dos nossos desacordos jurídicos. Depois de  definir os significados de convenção, convencionalismo e do convencionalismo jurídico é apresentada a sua relevância para a determinação de uma concepção positivista de direito apoiada na tese de que este de funda exclusivamente em fontes diretamente sociais. Em seguida, são apresentados casos paradigmáticos de desacordos teóricos que não são adequadamente explicados por uma teoria jurídica comprometida com o convencionalismo jurídico. Com base neles é apresentado um esquema conceitual geral e provisório para a compreensão da critica que Dworkin formula ao convencionalismo jurídico, salientando-se como ela se fundamenta numa análise da gramática lógica pressuposta em desacordos teóricos comuns em nossa prática jurídica. Por fim, o texto indica que o convencionalismo jurídico não foi capaz de responder ao desafio dworkiniano na medida em que não considerou corretamente o tipo de desacordo teórico que estava em questão em casos centrais das práticas jurídicas.Palavras-chave: Positivismo jurídico; Convencionalismo jurídico; Interpretativismo.Abstract: The essay presents a conceptual scheme of the criticism made by Ronald Dworkin to legal conventionalism and its relevance for an accurate description of the law and the correct understanding of the nature of legal disagreement. After defining the concepts of convention, conventionalism and legal conventionalism it shows its connection to a positivist conception of law based on the exclusive social grounds of law. It offers shows how some paradigmatic cases of theoretical disagreements are not adequately explained by a legal theory committed with legal conventionalism. Based on these cases the text offers a general and preliminary conceptual scheme to understand Dworkin’s criticism of legal conventionalism. Dworkin’s approach is grounded on the analysis of the logical grammar presupposed by theoretical disagreement common in ordinary legal practice. Finally the essay points to the fact that legal conventionalism failed to cope with the Dworkinian challenge since it could not rightly take in consideration the kind of theoretical disagreements that are at stake in pivotal cases of legal practice.Keywords: Legal positivism; Legal conventionalism; Interpretativism.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Pablo Antonio Lago

<p><strong>RESUMO:</strong></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-decdab21-6e60-7f17-85b2-a2ed5562f90b"><span>O presente artigo tem por objeto as principais críticas que Andrei Marmor, em seu livro </span><span>Interpretation and Legal Theory</span><span>, apresenta à concepção de interpretação defendida por Ronald Dworkin. Em um primeiro momento, Marmor sugere que, para Dworkin, toda e qualquer conclusão sobre o Direito seria objeto de interpretação, o que não seria correto quando analisamos, por exemplo, o modo como seguimos certas regras e convenções. Em um segundo momento, Marmor argumenta que a perspectiva dworkiniana defende uma objetividade impossível de ser alcançada na interpretação: o fato de que compartilhamos valores de natureza incomensurável, por exemplo, implica na impossibilidade de se considerar que uma interpretação será, todas as coisas consideradas, melhor que outra. Analisando tais críticas à luz das respostas que Dworkin ofereceu ou poderia ter oferecido, conclui-se que a visão de Marmor sobre a concepção dworkiniana de interpretação é incorreta, na medida em que ignora distinções que lhe são centrais, como a diferença entre “conceitos criteriais” e “conceitos interpretativos”, e sobre a natureza integrada dos valores que compartilhamos socialmente. Ainda assim, o debate entre ambos os autores ressalta sua clara natureza metodológica, sendo importante para a compreensão do “estado da arte” da Teoria do Direito contemporânea de vertente analítica.</span></span></p><p><strong>ABSTRACT:</strong></p><p dir="ltr"><span>This paper focuses on the main criticisms presented in Andrei Marmor’s </span><span>Interpretation and Legal Theory</span><span> to Ronald Dworkin’s conception of interpretation. In the first criticism, Marmor suggests that in Dworkin’s theory each and every conclusion about what the law is in a given case is a result of interpretation, which cannot be correct when we think, for example, about the way we follow certain rules and conventions. In the second criticism, Marmor argues Dworkin supports an impossible objectivity view on interpretation: the fact that we share values of incommensurable nature, for example, implies that it is impossible to consider that one interpretation can be the best, all things considered. Considering both criticisms and the answers that Dworkin offered or could have offered to it, this paper concludes Marmor's view about Dworkin's concept of interpretation is incorrect, considering that Marmor ignores central distinctions of Dworkinian thought, such as the difference between "criterial” and “interpretive” concepts, and about the integrated nature of values we share on society. Nevertheless, the debate emphasizes its methodological nature, and is important to understand the state of art of the analytical contemporary legal theory.</span></p><div><span><br /></span></div>


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-105
Author(s):  
Andrzej Czajowski

AbstractThough the term “policy” has already been discussed extensively before, it appears to be in need of a critical review in meaning and context. In this essay, the criticism stems from the term “policy of the law”, which was introduced into the political science literature over 120 years ago by Leon Petrażycki, the outstanding creator of psychological theory of the law and the only world-known Polish lawyer. The term itself is false and incorrect as it’s equal to the term “policy of the policy”. Law is a political phenomenon cocreating policy. In addition, the concept of policy of the law is characterised by idealism bordering on naivety. Because of the place of L. Petrażycki in Polish tradition of the theory of law, references to his concept of policy of the law are made constantly in an attempt to apply this concept in scientific and practical considerations. It is time to leave it to the domain of history of legal theory.Another criticism was brought about by the title of the third chapter of Polish Energy Law Act — “Energy Policy”. This entire act and a number of other legal acts regulating the acquisition of energy sources and energy management comprise energy policy. The energy policy also includes various types of programs, actions and decisions of the participants of energy policy. The criticism of the incompetent use of the term “energy policy” is an opportunity to stress the role of policy in the process of meeting human needs.Thirdly, the term “policy” is determined by discussing an element of its structure: political thought. The essay presents the role of political thought in relation to economy, culture, independence, systems and other domains of human activity. The understanding of political thought as a reflection on policy or views on policy is questioned here. Political thought is not a reflection about the policy. Instead, political thought is a political decision which cocreates policy. It is a postulative decision resulting from scientific or common reflection on policy.


Legal Theory ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. O. Endicott

The use of vague language in law has important implications for legal theory. Legal philosophers have occasionally grappled with those implications, but they have not come to grips with the characteristic phenomenon of vagueness: the sorites paradox. I discuss the paradox, and claim that it poses problems for some legal theorists (David Lyons, Hans Kelsen, and, especially, Ronald Dworkin). I propose that a good account of vagueness will have three consequences for legal theory: (i) Theories that deny that vagueness in formulations of the law leads to discretion in adjudication (including Dworkin's) cannot accommodate “higher-order” vagueness, (ii) A legal theory should accept that the law is partly indeterminate when it can be stated in vague language, (iii) However, the traditional formulation of the indeterminacy claim, that a vague statement is “neither true nor false” in a borderline case, is misconceived and should be abandoned.


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