Laying Down the Law: Mysticism, Fetishism, and the American Legal Mind

197 Pages·1996·24.784 MB·English

by  Pierre Schlag

LAYING DOW N
THE LA W

LAYING
D O WN
THE LA W
(^Mysticism, Fetishism, and the
^American Legal Mind
PIERRE SCHLA G
NEW YOR K UNIVERSIT Y PRES S
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
© 1996 by New York University
All rights reserved
Frontis: The Image Bank/Petrified Collection.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schlag, Pierre.
Laying down the law : mysticism, fetishism, and the American legal
mind / Pierre Schlag.
p. cm .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8147-8053-9 (alk. paper)
1. Law—Philosophy—Study and teaching—United States.
2. Jurisprudence—Study and teaching—United States. I . Title.
KF380.S32 199 6
340'.1—dc20 96-2734 8
CIP
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
for ShQco/ai, Kate, and Zoe

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments i x
I. INTRODUCTIO N
1. Thi s Could Be Your Culture 3
II. THER E OUGH T T O B E A LA W
2. Normativ e and Nowhere to Go 1 7
3. Value s 4 2
4. Th e Evaluation Controversy 6 0
III. MISSIN G SUBJECT S
5. Contradictio n and Denial 7 9
6. Fis h v. Zapp: The Case of the Relatively Autono- 9 1
mous Self
7. Ho w to Do Things with the First Amendment 11 4
IV. LA W WITHOU T EN D
8. Anti-Intellectualis m 13 3
9. Th e Legal Form of Being 14 6
V. EPILOGU E
10. Layin g Down the Law 16 3
Notes 16 7
Index 18 9
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book contains essays that were written between 198 7 and
1995. They have been previously published in slightly differen t
form. The y ar e include d her e wit h permissio n fro m th e la w
reviews. Thi s include s "Thi s Coul d B e You r Culture—Jun k
Speech i n a Time o f Decadence," 10 9 Harvard Law Review
(1996); "Anti-Intellectualism, " 1 6 Cardozo Law Review 111 1
(1995); "Values," 6 Yale Journal of Law of the Humanities 19 5
(1994); "How to Do Thing s with th e Firs t Amendment," 6 4
Colorado Law Review 109 5 (1993) "Pre-figuration an d Evalua -
tion," 8 0 California Law Review 96 5 (1992); "Normative an d
Nowhere to Go," 43 Stanford Law Review 16 7 (1990); "Contra-
diction an d Denial, " 8 7 Michigan Law Review 121 6 (1989) ;
"Fish v. Zapp: The Case of the Relatively Autonomous Self," 76
Georgetown Law Review 3 7 (1988).
Many peopl e commente d o n drafts , gav e suggestions, criti -
cisms, and more. Some helped with resources, others with con-
versation. For this help, I would like to thank Dave Boerner, Jean
Braucher, Crai g Callen , Pau l Campos , Davi d Carlson , Davi d
Clark, Richard Collins, Richard Delgado, Syd DeLong, Davi d
Eason, Rebecca French, Steve Heyman, Susan Kezele, Deborah
IX