John J. Coughlin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195372977
- eISBN:
- 9780199871667
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372977.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This introductory chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to discuss the ways in which antinomianism and legalism have impacted on canon law as the rule of law in the Roman Catholic ...
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This introductory chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to discuss the ways in which antinomianism and legalism have impacted on canon law as the rule of law in the Roman Catholic Church. Focusing on contemporary canon law, it examines several specific topics, including the sexual abuse crisis, the ownership of church property, and the refusal of Holy Communion to Catholic public officials. The chapter then treats some concepts that are basic to the study as a whole. First, it defines antinomianism and legalism in canon law and offers some historical examples of each. Second, it describes the meaning of Anglo-American legal theory, and discusses it in relation to comparative law. Finally, it poses a question about canon law as the rule of law in the church from the comparative perspective.Less
This introductory chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to discuss the ways in which antinomianism and legalism have impacted on canon law as the rule of law in the Roman Catholic Church. Focusing on contemporary canon law, it examines several specific topics, including the sexual abuse crisis, the ownership of church property, and the refusal of Holy Communion to Catholic public officials. The chapter then treats some concepts that are basic to the study as a whole. First, it defines antinomianism and legalism in canon law and offers some historical examples of each. Second, it describes the meaning of Anglo-American legal theory, and discusses it in relation to comparative law. Finally, it poses a question about canon law as the rule of law in the church from the comparative perspective.
John J. Coughlin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195372977
- eISBN:
- 9780199871667
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372977.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter offers a conclusive synthesis of the study. The first part identifies the natural and supernatural ends of canon law. The second part summarizes the examples of clergy sexual abuse, the ...
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This chapter offers a conclusive synthesis of the study. The first part identifies the natural and supernatural ends of canon law. The second part summarizes the examples of clergy sexual abuse, the ownership of church property, and the application of Canon 915. Based upon the three examples, it presents some general conclusions about antinomianism and legalism. The third part offers observations about canon law from the comparative perspective. It returns to the three basic questions posed in the Introduction about the nature of law, a legal system, and the rule of law. While primarily descriptive, the chapter also serves a prescriptive function. The comparison with Anglo-American legal theory not only clarifies the nature of canon law, but also suggests ways in which the system of canon law might more effectively fulfill the requirements of the rule of law.Less
This chapter offers a conclusive synthesis of the study. The first part identifies the natural and supernatural ends of canon law. The second part summarizes the examples of clergy sexual abuse, the ownership of church property, and the application of Canon 915. Based upon the three examples, it presents some general conclusions about antinomianism and legalism. The third part offers observations about canon law from the comparative perspective. It returns to the three basic questions posed in the Introduction about the nature of law, a legal system, and the rule of law. While primarily descriptive, the chapter also serves a prescriptive function. The comparison with Anglo-American legal theory not only clarifies the nature of canon law, but also suggests ways in which the system of canon law might more effectively fulfill the requirements of the rule of law.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804756594
- eISBN:
- 9780804787529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804756594.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This book is a study of two twentieth-century schools of American legal theory and their relationship—legal realism and critical legal studies (CLS). This chapter provides a brief history of the ...
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This book is a study of two twentieth-century schools of American legal theory and their relationship—legal realism and critical legal studies (CLS). This chapter provides a brief history of the legal realist movement, its emergence as a distinct movement in the 1920s and 1930s and how it formed the inspiration for the critical legal studies movement from the 1970s onward. It presents the central premise of the study: legal realism and CLS are not continuous bodies of thought. Finally, the chapter identifies three issues that help clarify this central premise of the study: historicism, social science and linguistic theory.Less
This book is a study of two twentieth-century schools of American legal theory and their relationship—legal realism and critical legal studies (CLS). This chapter provides a brief history of the legal realist movement, its emergence as a distinct movement in the 1920s and 1930s and how it formed the inspiration for the critical legal studies movement from the 1970s onward. It presents the central premise of the study: legal realism and CLS are not continuous bodies of thought. Finally, the chapter identifies three issues that help clarify this central premise of the study: historicism, social science and linguistic theory.
Nicola Lacey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199202775
- eISBN:
- 9780191705953
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202775.003.0014
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This chapter focuses on H. L. A. Hart's views about Ronald Dworkin. In ‘The Nightmare and the Noble Dream’ lecture, published in the Georgia Law Review in 1977, Hart sketched a bold map of the ...
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This chapter focuses on H. L. A. Hart's views about Ronald Dworkin. In ‘The Nightmare and the Noble Dream’ lecture, published in the Georgia Law Review in 1977, Hart sketched a bold map of the American 20th-century jurisprudential scene. American legal theory was, he argued, focussed on adjudication because it was organized around the need to justify the power of judges to strike down democratically validated legislation on constitutional grounds. American legal theorists have reacted to this distinctive constitutional situation, he suggested, in one of two ways: the ‘nightmare’ of total indeterminacy and unconstrained judicial discretion and the ‘noble dream’ of complete legal determinacy. The ‘nightmare’, represented by the Realist jurisprudence of the early part of the 20th century indulges in scepticism about whether judges are bound by law at all in either complex constitutional cases or more generally. By contrast, the American ‘noble dream’ is particularistic and holistic: it finds reasons constraining judges' discretion within the resources of particular legal systems, and it sees law as consisting in more than merely rules, asserting that even when appearances are to the contrary, judges are in fact finding and declaring rather than making law.Less
This chapter focuses on H. L. A. Hart's views about Ronald Dworkin. In ‘The Nightmare and the Noble Dream’ lecture, published in the Georgia Law Review in 1977, Hart sketched a bold map of the American 20th-century jurisprudential scene. American legal theory was, he argued, focussed on adjudication because it was organized around the need to justify the power of judges to strike down democratically validated legislation on constitutional grounds. American legal theorists have reacted to this distinctive constitutional situation, he suggested, in one of two ways: the ‘nightmare’ of total indeterminacy and unconstrained judicial discretion and the ‘noble dream’ of complete legal determinacy. The ‘nightmare’, represented by the Realist jurisprudence of the early part of the 20th century indulges in scepticism about whether judges are bound by law at all in either complex constitutional cases or more generally. By contrast, the American ‘noble dream’ is particularistic and holistic: it finds reasons constraining judges' discretion within the resources of particular legal systems, and it sees law as consisting in more than merely rules, asserting that even when appearances are to the contrary, judges are in fact finding and declaring rather than making law.
James R. Hackney
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814737071
- eISBN:
- 9780814745434
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814737071.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This book invites readers to enter the minds of ten legal experts that in the late 20th century changed the way we understand and use theory in law today. The author spent hours in conversation with ...
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This book invites readers to enter the minds of ten legal experts that in the late 20th century changed the way we understand and use theory in law today. The author spent hours in conversation with legal intellectuals, interviewing them about their early lives as thinkers and scholars, their contributions to American legal theory, and their thoughts regarding some fundamental theoretical questions in legal academe, particularly the law/politics debate. The book “humanizes key ideas in legal theory by placing them in the context of individual biography, historical events, and the sometimes fraught social relationships in the legal academy. ” It “offers new insight into some of the most important debates in legal theory ”.Less
This book invites readers to enter the minds of ten legal experts that in the late 20th century changed the way we understand and use theory in law today. The author spent hours in conversation with legal intellectuals, interviewing them about their early lives as thinkers and scholars, their contributions to American legal theory, and their thoughts regarding some fundamental theoretical questions in legal academe, particularly the law/politics debate. The book “humanizes key ideas in legal theory by placing them in the context of individual biography, historical events, and the sometimes fraught social relationships in the legal academy. ” It “offers new insight into some of the most important debates in legal theory ”.
James R. Hackney
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814737071
- eISBN:
- 9780814745434
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814737071.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This introductory chapter explains the rationale behind the present volume, which features a collection of interviews that offer a firsthand account of the movements, personalities, and ideas that ...
More
This introductory chapter explains the rationale behind the present volume, which features a collection of interviews that offer a firsthand account of the movements, personalities, and ideas that animated the author's time at Yale Law School and the legal academy in general during the 1980s, through the lens of some of the era's major figures. This particular decade was chosen because it was an extraordinary period in American legal theory. There were movements formed and intellectual battles waged; there were not only paradigm shifts, but also paradigm proliferation and disintegration. Importantly, this period marked the shift in the legal academy from a largely doctrinally focused enterprise, to an arena in which high-level theoretical and interdisciplinary work thrives. The remainder of the chapter provides an overview of the topics covered during the interviews.Less
This introductory chapter explains the rationale behind the present volume, which features a collection of interviews that offer a firsthand account of the movements, personalities, and ideas that animated the author's time at Yale Law School and the legal academy in general during the 1980s, through the lens of some of the era's major figures. This particular decade was chosen because it was an extraordinary period in American legal theory. There were movements formed and intellectual battles waged; there were not only paradigm shifts, but also paradigm proliferation and disintegration. Importantly, this period marked the shift in the legal academy from a largely doctrinally focused enterprise, to an arena in which high-level theoretical and interdisciplinary work thrives. The remainder of the chapter provides an overview of the topics covered during the interviews.
