Difference between revisions of "We understand the Constitution, they do not."
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
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[[Category:Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties]] | [[Category:Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties]] | ||
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| − | {{DES | des = This libertarian attitude shows a profound ignorance of how the law ascribes meaning to documents such as the Constitution. | + | {{DES | des = This libertarian attitude shows a profound ignorance of how the law ascribes meaning to documents such as the Constitution. This is explained further. | show=}} |
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Second, there must be one shared meaning, which requires social construction. If a libertarian swears that he is reading the meaning "literally", so may anybody else: you still require a social judgement of what the "literal" reading is. If you get as far as deciding that a "literal" reading is the appropriate way to understand the document. | Second, there must be one shared meaning, which requires social construction. If a libertarian swears that he is reading the meaning "literally", so may anybody else: you still require a social judgement of what the "literal" reading is. If you get as far as deciding that a "literal" reading is the appropriate way to understand the document. | ||
| − | Third, general statements such as those in the Constitution have problems with precision and conflict with other statements in the same Constitution. Those problems have no clear, inerrant solution: they must be resolved by some interpretive authority. The US Supreme Court has arrogated that responsibility in Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803). | + | Third, general statements such as those in the Constitution have problems with precision and conflict with other statements in the same Constitution. Those problems have no clear, inerrant solution: they must be resolved by some interpretive authority. The US Supreme Court has arrogated that responsibility in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._Madison Marbury v. Madison], 5 U.S. 137 (1803). |
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{{List|title=We understand the Constitution, they do not.|links=true}} | {{List|title=We understand the Constitution, they do not.|links=true}} | ||
{{Quotations|title=We understand the Constitution, they do not.|quotes=true}} | {{Quotations|title=We understand the Constitution, they do not.|quotes=true}} | ||
