That's Just the Way it is: Langille on Law

McGill Law Journal, Vol. 34, pp. 145-159, 1989

8 Pages Posted: 25 Mar 2010

See all articles by Allan Hutchinson

Allan Hutchinson

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School

Date Written: 1989

Abstract

This article is a defence of the sceptical critique of the legitimacy of law and adjudication. It is a direct reply to the arguments of Professor Brian Langille, whose article "Revolution Without Foundation: The Grammar of Scepticism and Law" appeared in Volume 33 of this Journal. In that article, Langille defended the viability of law, legal discourse and legal critique primarily by attacking the claim that scepticism based on the "indeterminacy of language" can be grounded in the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Professor Hutchinson concentrates his spirited response on the indeterminacy of language. He contends that law fails to meet its self proclaimed standards of rational justification and cognitive clarity. Instead, law must always be supplemented by external influences and shared values; even law's grammar cannot be value-free. By corning to terms with collective values, we can therefore engage in a meaningful political critique not ostensibly grounded in objectivity or implicitly appropriated by an elite class of legal practitioners.

Suggested Citation

Hutchinson, Allan, That's Just the Way it is: Langille on Law (1989). McGill Law Journal, Vol. 34, pp. 145-159, 1989, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1577764

Allan Hutchinson (Contact Author)

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada
(416) 736-5048 (Phone)

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