THE RESTATEMENT OF THE OBVIOUS *

Transcription

1 THE RESTATEMENT OF THE OBVIOUS * Thomas C. Folsom ** we have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. 1 ABSTRACT A variation of Moral Realism, as specified in Appendix One of this essay, is a non proprietary, non sectarian, and non antiquarian set of foundational principles upon which a rule of law, grounded in morality and history and balanced by analytic and pragmatic concerns, can be established among free and equal citizens. A restatement at this level of generality is both possible and highly desirable. This essay proposes a first tentative draft of such a restatement. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract I. Introduction II. First Things A. Things Not Right B. Things Not Reasonable C. Things Not Nice D. Things Close to the Line III. The Restatement of the Obvious A. Topic One: Foundations for Law Introduction Three Foundations: Ontological, Epistemological, Ethical The Opposite The Gap Between Law and Morality B. Topic Two: Sources of Law Introduction Three Sources: Positive, Reasonable (or Natural), Historical (or Normative) * Thomas C. Folsom 2004, This version of the article is expanded by inclusion of a new abstract, table of contents, introductory notes and errata. The article as first published did not include these, and begins at page 301 following. ** Associate Professor, Regent University School of Law; J.D. Georgetown University Law Center; B.S., United States Air Force Academy. I would like to thank Dean Jeffrey Brauch and my colleagues Dr. Joseph Kickasola and Professors Scott Pryor, Craig Stern and Peter Richards for their encouragement, and my Graduate Assistants, Doug Meyers and John Norman for their assistance. The support and assistance were theirs, the mistakes are mine. 1 George Orwell, Review of Power: A New Social Analysis by Bertrand Russell, THE ADELPHI, January 1939, reprinted in GEORGE ORWELL, ESSAYS (John Carey ed., Everyman s Library 1968) 107 (this source provided to me by Professor Peter Richards). See also, J. BUDZISZEWSKI, WHAT WE CAN T NOT KNOW: A GUIDE 15 (2003) (same quotation).

2 2 Thomas C. Folsom ADDENDUM C. Topic Three: Making or Changing Law Introduction Criteria for Designing Law D. Topic Four: Law and Justice Introduction Criteria for Criticizing Law: The Aspects of Justice E. Topic Five: Law and Language Introduction Johnny and the Cow IV. Conclusion A. Note on Sources B. Concluding Postscript Appendix One: Moral Realism and the Restatement of the Obvious AMONG THE MORE ANNOYING ERRATA AND OMISSIONS: 1) Page 310, at footnote 12, the citation should read: William W. Bratton, Enron and the Dark Side of Shareholder Value, 76 TUL. L. REV (2002). Professor William W. Bratton s article was printed as part of a Socio Economics and Corporate Law Symposium: The New Corporate Social Responsibility Does Corporate Law Protect the Interests of Shareholders and Other Stakeholders? 2) Page 315, second line, should read: [...] true, even though unprovable (indemonstrable) [ ] Perhaps when the automated spell checker balked at unprovable (as had been in the various drafts) it might have been better to keep the suspect expression and to supplement it with an explanatory word ( indemonstrable ), rather than simply accepting the first choice suggested by the automaton. I regret not having noticed this prior to publication. 3) A Note on Provenance (the title): Though the article s title has a dual significance, it was not immediately inspired by George Orwell, whose language is now included in the pull quote and in note 1 of this Addendum. Perhaps more mundanely the title was intended to make a simple and immediate allusion to the work of the American Law Institute in its various Restatements of the law, none of which actually gets around to satisfactorily defining or restating certain obviously foundational words or principles used in the Restatements (such as justice ). As the ALI does in its better work, so this article undertakes to treat the subject matter in a generally descriptive fashion, often using an inductive method though occasionally adding something else, and then arranging the whole in an orderly and numbered sequence and style (as suggested in Appendix One of this article). Of course I am indebted to many sources, and I regret the article as first published did not include notes corresponding to the extended footnotes in this Addendum.

3 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

4 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

5 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

6 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

7 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

8 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

9 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

10 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

11 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

12 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

13 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

14 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

15 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

16 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

17 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

18 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

19 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

20 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

21 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

22 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

23 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

24 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

25 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

26 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

27 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

28 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

29 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

30 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

31 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

32 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

33 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

34 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

35 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

36 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

37 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

38 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

39 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

40 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

41 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

42 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

43 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

44 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

45 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

46 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

47 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

48 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

49 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

50 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

51 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev

52 HeinOnline Regent U. L. Rev