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88 Minn. L. Rev. 119 (2003-2004)
Reconsidering Legalism

handle is hein.journals/mnlr88 and id is 133 raw text is: Lecture Reconsidering Legalism* Robin Westt About forty years ago, in 1964, the political philosopher Judith Shklar published a remarkable book, Legalism,' in which she put forward two propositions: first, that an ideologi- cal commitment to legalism unites the legal profession, in- cluding academy, bar, and bench,2 and second, that what legal- ism consists of is the ethical attitude that holds moral conduct to be a matter of rule following, and moral relationships to con- sist of duties and rights determined by rules.3 Thus, putting the two together, being a lawyer means that one is committed to the ideological proposition that moral conduct is a matter of following rules.4 In the first of two extended essays in the book, Professor Shklar went on to make a number of arguments about this attitude, and its relation to academic jurisprudence and politics. First, with respect to legal philosophy, she argued that legalism, so understood, underlies natural law and legal positivism both, so that at least from an outsider's perspective, these two warring jurisprudential stances have far more in common than either is inclined to suppose.5 Second, she argued, legalism can be found in a more or less state in a wide range of political, social, and cultural institutions and practices, and * This contribution is based on the 2002-03 John Dewey Lecture in the Philosophy of Law, delivered by Professor Robin West at the University of Minnesota Law School on April 2, 2003. The lectureship is named in honor of John Dewey, American philosopher, educator, and scholar. The John Dewey Lectureship is funded by a grant from the John Dewey Foundation and is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Law School to provide a forum for significant scholarly contributions to the development of jurisprudence. t Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center. 1. JUDITH SHKLAR, LEGALISM (1st ed. 1964). 2. JUDITH SHKLAR, LEGALISM: LAW, MORALS, AND POLITICAL TRIALS 8- 12 (2d ed. 1986). 3. Id. at 1. 4. See id. at 1-2. 5. See id. at 30-31, 106.

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