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"Structuralism and law" [2019] ELECD 1382; in Broekman, M. Jan (ed), "Rethinking Law and Language" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 135

Book Title: Rethinking Law and Language

Editor(s): Broekman, M. Jan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: Structuralism and law

Number of pages: 37

Abstract/Description:

Structuralism is the philosophical theme that influenced European thinking in the decades before and after World War II while emphasizing our thought patterns as expressed in lingual utterances. An overview of this philosophical mainstream (with centers in Moscow, Prague, and Paris, and fashionable on the US East Coast in the 1980s) focuses on socially important issues, such as genetics and cyberspace; on language patterns; and on speech as a sign of the necessarily dynamic character of language. Structuralism is also known for its critical considering of positions in speech events. The Speaker–Hearer Model and the central position of the subject as first person singular are involved in the process of decentering—a thesis touching basic philosophical options in law and linguistics. In connection with this, the concept of discourse is mentioned, illustrating its importance for legal language and hermeneutics as a well-structured theory of interpretation.