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
19.
The phrase
a
any choice made ███████ ███████████ █████████ ██ █ █████ ████████ ████ ██ █████████
Supported. CLS thinks that the implications of the law’s conflicting values are that legal decisions must be
b
every legal question ████ ███████ ███ █████████████ ██ █ ███ ██ ██████
Unsupported. This may be true, but it doesn’t describe the “far-reaching implications imputed by CLS.” CLS thinks that, because legal questions involve the consideration of conflicting values, this implies that legal choices are arbitrary and irrational.
c
two or more ███████████ █████████ ██ █ █████ ████████ ███ █████ █████ █████ ██████
Unsupported. This may be true, but it doesn’t describe the “far-reaching implications imputed by CLS.” CLS thinks that, because legal questions involve the consideration of conflicting values, this implies that legal choices are arbitrary and irrational.
d
no legal question ████ ████ █ ██████ ███████ ██████
This describes part of the problem according to CLS proponents: legal questions involve conflicting values and do not have one correct answer. CLS proponents believe that the implications of this problem are that legal choices are arbitrary and irrational.
e
the most relevant █████████ ███ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███████████ ████ ███████
Unsupported. P3 doesn’t address what criterion are relevant in judging solutions. Instead, CLS proponents think that legal choices are irrational and arbitrary because they involve the consideration of conflicting values.