Abstract
In this Article, Hutchinson provides an account of the common law tradition of judging that draws upon Hans-Georg Gadamer's writings that advance the intellectual project of critical legal theory. Hutchinson contends that Gadamer's hermeneutics can be utilized to offer a more radical and transformative reading of the common law tradition and explores what it means to treat law seriously as a living rhetorical tradition. This Article explores Hutchinson's theory by concentrating on the recent U.S. Supreme Court physician-assisted suicide decision in Washington v. Glucksberg. This Article relies upon the notion of "work-in-progress" as a productive optic through which to view and appreciate the dynamic and unfinishable quality of law, interpretation, and criticism.
Recommended Citation
Allan C. Hutchinson,
Work-in-Progress: Gadamer, Tradition, and the Common Law,
76
Chi.-Kent L. Rev.
1015
(2000).
Available at:
https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cklawreview/vol76/iss2/12
