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Rule-Centrism Versus Legal Creativity: The Skewing of Legal Ideology Through Language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2024

Bernard Weissbourd  and
Elizabeth Mertz
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Abstract

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This paper takes as an example of Anglo-American legal ideology the work of legal philosopher H.L.A. Hart, analyzing it in light of current linguistic theories. Linguists have proposed that ideological reflection can be affected in particular ways by the structure of the language used to convey it. We find that Hart's theory, with its emphasis on decontextualized rules and prerequisite conditions, fits the linguistic predictions. The paper concludes with the suggestion that the effect of language structure on cultural and/or legal ideologies is, however, socially and culturally circumscribed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , 1985 , pp. 623 - 659
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 by The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

*

An earlier version of this paper was read and discussed by the Workshop on Language, Law, and Society at the University of Chicago. We thank our colleagues in the Workshop for their helpful comments. We would also like to acknowledge the guidance given us by Richard Lempert and three referees for the Law & Society Review in improving the original manuscript.

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