Articles:
The Variable Determinacy Thesis
Harry Surden
Downloads:
- Title:
- The Variable Determinacy Thesis
- Author(s):
- Surden, Harry
- Date:
- 2011
- Type:
- Articles
- Department:
- Law
- Volume:
- 12
- Permanent URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:10491
- Book/Journal Title:
- Columbia Science and Technology Law Review
- Abstract:
- This Article proposes a novel technique for characterizing the relative determinacy of legal decision-making. I begin with the observation that the determinacy of legal outcomes varies from context to context within the law. To augment this intuition, I develop a theoretical model of determinate legal decision-making. This model aims to capture the essential features that are typically associated with the concept of legal determinacy. I then argue that we can use such an idealized model as a standard for expressing the relative determinacy or indeterminacy of decision-making in actual, observed legal contexts. From a legal theory standpoint, this approach — separating determinacy and indeterminacy into their constituent conceptual elements — helps us to more rigorously define these theoretical ideas. Ultimately, from a practical standpoint, I assert that this framework assists in understanding why legal outcomes in certain contexts are determinate enough to be amenable to resolution by computers.
- Subject(s):
- Law
- Item views:
- 107