The New Math

2021 ◽  
pp. 49-81
Author(s):  
Yigal Bronner

This chapter explores the first concentrated effort to theorize and defend Madhva’s inversion against traditional interpretive theory. The protagonist of this chapter is Vyāsatīrtha, the great architect of Dualist Vedānta as a major philosophical, social, and political movement under the auspices of the Vijayanagara Empire. Vyāsatīrtha assembles a systematic defense of the power of the closing. He builds his argument out of existing Mīmāṃsā case law, gathering an array of interpretive decisions in which, he argues, it is really the closing that is the deciding factor. He also reexamines the cases traditionally thought to illustrate the power of the opening, demonstrating in each that some interpretive criterion other than sequence really dictates the agreed-upon conclusion. Thus, without actually challenging the existing interpretive conclusions of the entire Mīmāṃsā tradition, Vyāsatīrtha develops (or, in his mind, reveals) a “new math” that both upholds Madhva’s theory and explains a variety of old results.

Author(s):  
Tyler Lohse

This essay comments on the nature of the language of the law and legal interpretation by exam- ining their effects on their recipients. Two forms of philosophy of law are examined, legal positiv- ism and teleological interpretive theory, which are then applied to their specific manifestations in literature and case law, both relating to antebellum slave law. In these cases, the slave sustains civil death under the law, permissible by means of these legal interpretive strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (88) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Caroline Müller Bitencourt ◽  
Carlos Ignacio Aymerich Cano ◽  
Jonas Faveiro Trindade

The institutional capacity of the courts of audit as makers and applicants of precedents and summulas (restatement of case law) is investigated to answer the following: is it possible a mutually beneficial approach to the decision standards regimen from the Civil Procedure Code-CPC, as well as a productive dialogue with the Law of Introduction to the Brazilian Legal Statutes (Lei de Introdução às normas do Direito Brasileiro-LINDB)?. The objective of the work is to analyze, from the abstract and concrete institutional capacities of the audit courts, the aptitude for the formation and application of decision-making standards. To do so, Ronald Dworkin's interpretive theory was chosen, especially because it is believed that precedents are intertwined in a discursive plot, when every single interpreter commits to analyzing past decisions, in a reflexive way, to decide in the present and, at the same time, anticipating the directions for the future of the decision, which is made in the here and now. The hypothesis is that the audit courts have the potential ability to form and apply precedents and summulas, arising from the exercise of their constitutional powers, but that it is also necessary to develop a concrete capacity to form and apply controlling decision patterns. In this way, it allows for a better understanding of the relationship between the decisions of the audit courts and the judicial ones. It is a theoretical work, of legal analysis of the subject, using the deductive method, starting from a general analysis to reach the institutional capacity of audit courts for the formation and application of decision-making standards.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (01) ◽  
pp. 76-101
Author(s):  
PETER M. SANCHEZ

AbstractThis paper examines the actions of one Salvadorean priest – Padre David Rodríguez – in one parish – Tecoluca – to underscore the importance of religious leadership in the rise of El Salvador's contentious political movement that began in the early 1970s, when the guerrilla organisations were only just beginning to develop. Catholic leaders became engaged in promoting contentious politics, however, only after the Church had experienced an ideological conversion, commonly referred to as liberation theology. A focus on one priest, in one parish, allows for generalisation, since scores of priests, nuns and lay workers in El Salvador followed the same injustice frame and tactics that generated extensive political mobilisation throughout the country. While structural conditions, collective action and resource mobilisation are undoubtedly necessary, the case of religious leaders in El Salvador suggests that ideas and leadership are of vital importance for the rise of contentious politics at a particular historical moment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Justin D. Beck ◽  
Judge David B. Torrey

Abstract Medical evaluators must understand the context for the impairment assessments they perform. This article exemplifies issues that arise based on the role of impairment ratings and what edition of the AMA Guides to the Impairment of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) is used. This discussion also raises interesting legal questions related to retroactivity, applicability of prior precedent, and delegation. On June 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania handed down its decision, Protz v. WCAB (Derry Area Sch. Dist.), which disallows use of the “most recent edition” of the AMA Guides when determining partial disability entitlement under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. An attempted solution was passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly and was signed into law Act 111 on October 24, 2018. Although it affirms that the AMA Guides, Sixth Edition, must be used for impairment ratings, the law reduces the threshold for total disability benefits from 50% to 35% impairment. This legislative adjustment benefited injured workers but sparked additional litigation about whether, when, and how the adjustment should be applied (excerpts from the laws and decisions discussed by the authors are included at the end of the article). In using impairment as a threshold for permanent disability benefits, evaluators must distinguish between impairment and disability and determine an appropriate threshold; they also must be aware of the compensation and adjudication process and of the jurisdictions in which they practice.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Joel Weddington ◽  
Charles N. Brooks ◽  
Mark Melhorn ◽  
Christopher R. Brigham

Abstract In most cases of shoulder injury at work, causation analysis is not clear-cut and requires detailed, thoughtful, and time-consuming causation analysis; traditionally, physicians have approached this in a cursory manner, often presenting their findings as an opinion. An established method of causation analysis using six steps is outlined in the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Guidelines and in the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Disease and Injury Causation, Second Edition, as follows: 1) collect evidence of disease; 2) collect epidemiological data; 3) collect evidence of exposure; 4) collect other relevant factors; 5) evaluate the validity of the evidence; and 6) write a report with evaluation and conclusions. Evaluators also should recognize that thresholds for causation vary by state and are based on specific statutes or case law. Three cases illustrate evidence-based causation analysis using the six steps and illustrate how examiners can form well-founded opinions about whether a given condition is work related, nonoccupational, or some combination of these. An evaluator's causal conclusions should be rational, should be consistent with the facts of the individual case and medical literature, and should cite pertinent references. The opinion should be stated “to a reasonable degree of medical probability,” on a “more-probable-than-not” basis, or using a suitable phrase that meets the legal threshold in the applicable jurisdiction.


1966 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 549-549
Author(s):  
ERIC C. THEINER
Keyword(s):  

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