Dwelling on the Threshold Critical Essays on Modern Legal Thought

Allan C. Hutchinson

Carswell Legal Pubns

Three questions concerning modern legal thought provide the framework for It’s All in the Game: What should judges do? What do judges do? What can judges do? Contrasting his own answers to traditional responses and moving playfully between debates of high theory, daily practices of appellate judges, and his own enlightening analyses of significant court rulings, Allan C. Hutchinson examines what it means to treat adjudication as an engaged game of rhetorical justification. His resulting argument enables the reader to grasp more fully the practical operation, political determinants, and the transformative possibilities of law and adjudication. Taking on leading contemporary theories to explore the claim that “law is politics,” Hutchinson delineates a route toward professional, relevant, and responsible—if radical—judicial practices. After discussing the difference between foundationalist, antifoundationalist, and nonfoundationalist legal critiques, he offers a focused, unequivocal, and positive account of the advantages of operating within a nonfoundationalist framework. Although such an approach centralizes the role of rhetoric in law, Hutchinson claims that this does not necessitate a turn away from politics or, more particularly, from a progressive politics. Driving home the political and jurisprudential impact of his critique and of his account of nonfoundationalist alternatives, he urges judges and jurists to engage in law’s language game of politics. This engaging book will interest linguistic philosophers, legal theorists, law students, attorneys, judges, and jurists of all stripes.

It's All in the Game: A Nonfoundationalist Account of Law and Adjudication

Legal Theory & Systems

Duke University Press

Laughing at the Gods

Cambridge University Press

This book should be essential reading for anyone beginning the study of law or for those considering application to law school. Professor Hutchinson explores both the theoretical underpinnings of the Canadian legal system and the practical demands on law students today with humour and perceptiveness. His aim is to "provide the reader with insights and tips on how to cope with the routines of law school life and succeed in becoming a good law student and an even better lawyer." As a basic orientation to law the book is accessible, thought-provoking and, at times, controversial. "The Law School Book" should be the first on the shelf of any aspiring lawyer.

The Law School Book: Succeeding at Law School

Irwin Law

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Allan C. Hutchinson. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Allan C. Hutchinson