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Just Interpretations: Law Between Ethics and Politics (Philosophy, Social Theory and the Rule of Law , No 4)

by: Michel Rosenfeld
en | University of California Press

0520210972  9780520210974  9780585276465 

Hardcover: 312 pages Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (April 25, 1998) Language: English ISBN-10: 0520210972 ISBN-13: 978-0520210974


Product Description
In pluralistic societies that lack common ethical, social, and political values, legal interpretation is constantly under siege. Just interpretations--that is, interpretations that reflect a shared vision of justice--may become just interpretations in the sense of mere interpretations, rooted in the orientations and interests of different groups. Confronting this crisis in legal interpretation, Just Interpretations offers a critical appraisal of the principal theoretical trends in contemporary American and European jurisprudence and proposes an alternative approach.
Michel Rosenfeld's critique focuses on neoformalism, pragmatism, discourse theory, and legal autopoiesis, and includes discussions of such authors as Habermas, Rorty, Posner, Luhmann, Dworkin, Fish, and Weinrib. To overcome the drawbacks of these theories, Rosenfeld elaborates a theory of "comprehensive pluralism," based on a substantive vision of pluralism. This approach, building on the insights of deconstruction, turns the fact of pluralism into a guiding normative imperative.
Just Interpretations will attract the attention of constitutional scholars, political scientists, and critical theorists, and will also address an interdisciplinary audience interested in texts, interpretations, and postmodern concerns with justice.

From the Inside Flap
"An important contribution to contemporary jurisprudential debate and to legal thought more generally, Just Interpretations is far ahead of currently available work."--Peter Goodrich, author of Oedipus Lex

"I was struck repeatedly by the clarity of expression throughout the book. Rosenfeld's description and criticism of the recent work of leading thinkers distinguishes his work within the legal theory genre. Furthermore, his own theory is quite original and provocative."--Aviam Soifer, author of Law and the Company We Keep