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
21.
It can be inferred from ███ ███████ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████ ███████ ████████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ █████ █████ ███ ████
a
It incorporates moral ██████████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ██████████ █████████ ██ █████ █████████
Anti-supported. We see
b
It does not ███████████ █████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ███████
Anti-supported. Meyerson holds this view, but CLS proponents believe that applying the law
c
It is insufficient ██ ██████ ██ █████████ ███ ██████ ██ █ █████ █████████
Supported. CLS proponents believe that applying the law is
d
It is comparable ██ ███ ███████████ ██ █████ ██ █ █████
Anti-supported.
e
It can be ████ ██ █████████ ███ ████ ██████ ███████ ███████████ ███████
Anti-supported. Meyerson believes that we can rank conflicting values to determine the best answer to certain legal questions. But CLS proponents believe that applying the law is arbitrary and irrational because of its conflicting values.