Self-study
P1
Philosopher Denise Meyerson views the Critical Legal Studies (CLS) movement as seeking to debunk orthodox legal theory by exposing its contradictions. ████████ ████████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ██████████████ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ██████ ████ ████████ █████ ██ ████████ █████ ███████
Denise Myerson's (DM) Perspective ·
Criticism of Critical Legal Studies (CLS)
CLS tries to show contradictions in orthodox legal theory. But, CLS points to contradictions that don't exist.
P2
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CLS Perspective (according to DM) ·
Conflicting values in law make law irrational
Conflicting values means there are always multiple equally plausible answers to any legal question. And, choosing one answer over another is always irrational.
DM's response ·
Can rank conflicting values, so different answers are not always equal
Conflicting values may lead to multiple answers, but we can sometimes rationally choose one answer over another based on ranking of values.
P3
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DM's additional response ·
Choice between equally plausible answers is not always irrational
Two answers can be equally plausible, but are both reasonable compared to a third answer.
P4
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CLS perspective (according to DM) ·
Legal formalism requires belief that law has moral authority
Legal formalism is the view that there's a method that can decide the correct answers to legal questions.
DM's response ·
Law does not need moral authority to provide unambiguous answers
Illustration: We can clearly identify the winner of game in which people try to steal the highest value item. This doesn't mean there's any moral authority in the game or the identification of the winner.
CLS's rebuttal ·
DM's game illustration isn't like actual legal cases
In legal cases, we have to appeal to things beyond the rules, such as the purpose of laws, and societal policies and values.
DM's rebuttal ·
The game illustration is like actual legal cases
Purpose, policies, and values can be characterized as part of the rules of the game.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
20.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████
Question Type
Describe organization
Structure
Like all Describe Organization questions, expect the correct answer to be consistent with our low-res summary. In P4, the author presents the CLS movement’s criticism of legal formalism and Meyerson’s response to their criticism.
a
A criticism is ██████████ ███ ███ ████████████ ██ █████████████
This is a very broad overview of the final paragraph’s organization. The author first identifies
b
The different arguments ████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ █ ███████ █████████ ███ █████████
The author does not describe two opponents of one viewpoint. Meyerson is the only opponent of the CLS movement. Instead, he presents different arguments made by proponents of two opposing viewpoints.
c
The arguments for ███ ███████ █ ███████ ████████ ███ █████████ ████ █ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ █████
It’s true that arguments for and against legal formalism are at least briefly outlined. But a new position is not offered, and the viewpoints are not reconciled.
d
A belief is █████████ ███ ███ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███ █████████ █████████████
The author doesn’t say anything about the practical consequences of Meyerson’s view or the CLS view. Also, he simply describes both views; he doesn’t debate their worth.
e
Two different solutions ███ ████████ ██ █████ ██ █████████ █ ████████████
The author doesn’t imagine any solutions to the disagreement between Meyerson and the CLS movement. Instead, he uses P4 to describe one of Meyerson’s investigation of the CLS movement’s criticism of legal formalism.