Justice, Creativity, and Popular Culture: The 'Jurisprudence' of Mary Chapin Carpenter

48 Pages Posted: 15 Dec 2010

See all articles by F. Patrick Hubbard

F. Patrick Hubbard

University of South Carolina School of Law

Date Written: 1996

Abstract

This Article takes the position that normative "truth" is contingent and, culture bound and defines "law" as decisions by officials of the state, the entity with an effective geographic monopoly on violent force. One approach to developing normative political theory in this contingent context is to view justice as a cultural construct, consisting of shared views about important normative ideals, that can be used to make "meaningful" statements about justice. More specifically, this cultural approach acts on a "creativist" faith or belief in three interconnected tenets: first, given the state's monopoly on violence, agreement on political theory is uniquely important; second, agreement is preferable to coercion and, therefore, interpersonal agreement means more than mere preference; and third, the creative aspect of humanity can be used, along with rational analysis, to implement and improve the shared normative perspective. Adopting this "creativist" approach requires criteria for determining how shared cultural views should be utilized in developing a nonnative political theory.

This article begins the process of developing such measures by proposing three criteria: (1) Popularity; (2) provision of framework for dialogue and consensus, rather than force, to resolve disagreement over basic values; and (3) "fit" with existing political theories. The use of these criteria is demonstrated by applying them to the songs of Mary Chapin Carpenter. As a successful singersongwriter, she satisfies the popularity criterion. Her "fit" with traditional political theory is addressed by considering the extent to which Carpenter's scheme complements John Rawls's theory of justice. The usefulness of Carpenter's framework in fostering dialogue and the pursuit of common ground is illustrated by discussing the ways and extent that her scheme provides a basis for dialogue between potentially conflicting feminine and masculine points of view. The conclusion argues that the analysis of Carpenter's songs is a useful beginning on the neglected task of fitting traditional political theory with popular culture.

Keywords: John Rawls, Rawls, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Law and Culture, justice, liberalism, feminism, jurisprudence, legal theory

Suggested Citation

Hubbard, F. Patrick, Justice, Creativity, and Popular Culture: The 'Jurisprudence' of Mary Chapin Carpenter (1996). Pacific Law Journal, Vol. 27, p. 1139, 1996, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1725964

F. Patrick Hubbard (Contact Author)

University of South Carolina School of Law ( email )

1525 Senate Street
Columbia, SC 29208
United States

HOME PAGE: http://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/faculty_and_staff/directory/hubbard_patrick.php

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