{"product_id":"the-language-of-law-and-the-foundations-of-american-constitutionalism-paperback-9780521140911","title":"The Language of Law and the Foundations of American Constitutionalism (Paperback) 9780521140911","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Language of Law and the Foundations of American Constitutionalism\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eArgues that the Founders intended the Constitution to be interpreted according to the text's meaning and its framers' original intentions.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eGary L. McDowell (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780521140911, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback, published 28 June 2010\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e428 pages\u003cbr\u003e23.4 x 15.5 x 2.3 cm, 0.6 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e'… an outstanding work of scholarship, ably synthesizing and analyzing a considerable body of material and bringing out its contemporary relevance.' Society\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eFor much of its history, the interpretation of the United States Constitution presupposed judges seeking the meaning of the text and the original intentions behind that text, a process that was deemed by Chief Justice John Marshall to be 'the most sacred rule of interpretation'. Since the end of the nineteenth century, a radically new understanding has developed in which the moral intuition of the judges is allowed to supplant the Constitution's original meaning as the foundation of interpretation. The Founders' Constitution of fixed and permanent meaning has been replaced by the idea of a 'living' or evolving constitution. Gary L. McDowell refutes this new understanding, recovering the theoretical grounds of the original Constitution as understood by those who framed and ratified it. It was, he argues, the intention of the Founders that the judiciary must be bound by the original meaning of the Constitution when interpreting it.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eIntroduction: the politics of original intention\u003cbr\u003e 1. The Constitution and the scholarly tradition: recovering the Founders' Constitution\u003cbr\u003e 2. Nature and the language of law: Thomas Hobbes and the foundations of modern constitutionalism\u003cbr\u003e 3. Language, law, and liberty: John Locke and the structures of modern constitutionalism\u003cbr\u003e 4. The limits of natural law: modern constitutionalism and the science of interpretation\u003cbr\u003e 5. The greatest improvement on political institutions: natural rights, written constitutions and the intention of the people\u003cbr\u003e 6. Chains of the Constitution: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the political metaphysics of strict construction\u003cbr\u003e 7. The most sacred rule of interpretation: John Marshall, originalism, and the limits of judicial power\u003cbr\u003e 8. The same yesterday, to-day, and forever: Joseph Story and the permanence of constitutional meaning\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue: the moral foundations of originalism.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Law [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Law\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Law%20%5BL%5D%22\"\u003eL\u003c\/a\u003e], Politics \u0026amp; government [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Politics \u0026amp; government\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Politics%20\u0026amp;%20government%20%5BJP%5D%22\"\u003eJP\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46006691922200,"sku":"9780521140911","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/products\/9780521140911i_a462e84c-8082-4d93-866e-32a7053775be.jpg?v=1691372328","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-language-of-law-and-the-foundations-of-american-constitutionalism-paperback-9780521140911","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}