Legal interpretation

03/10/2024 10 min
Legal interpretation

Listen "Legal interpretation"

Episode Synopsis

This paper, taken from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, discusses the interpretation of legal texts. The paper addresses the question of what is the purpose of legal interpretation and discusses various methods used by jurists to interpret laws, such as textualism, intentionalism, purposivism and originalism. It is also argued that the choice of a particular method of interpretation depends on the underlying theory of law one adheres to.