A Matter of Interpretation
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
A Matter of Interpretation
| Author | Antonin Scalia |
|---|---|
| Published | 1997 |
| Pages | 168 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Scalia’s Tanner Lectures making the case for textualism — the enacted words as the law, read as a reasonable contemporary would have understood them — against the common-law habit of treating a statute as raw material for judicial improvement, published with responses from Gordon Wood, Laurence Tribe, Mary Ann Glendon and Ronald Dworkin. |
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — heads the Law and Legal Theory section of his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, March 2026: after two parts on institutions and rules, this is the argument about who has authority over what the rules say. Full transcription: The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
About this edition
Scalia is explicit that textualism is distinct from hunting the legislators’ subjective intent. The entry carries a ☑️ on the source list; the page gives no legend for that mark, so it is not known to mean read, essential, or start-here.
Connections
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this card came from.
- Government — the separation-of-powers stake in who gets to say what a statute means.
- Regulation — statutory interpretation as the practical ground of administrative law.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.