A Reader's Guide to Semantic Originalism and a Reply to Professor Griffin

Abstract:     
The purpose of this essay is two-fold. The first aim is to introduce the reader to Semantic Originalism - a version of the New Originalism that is fully articulated in a long article of that name. The reader's guide in Part II provides a very short summary and accessible guide to the argument of Semantic Originalism. The second aim is to provide access to an exchange between Stephen Griffin and myself in the Blogosphere. Griffin's eight questions and comments about Semantic Originalism and my replies are reproduced in lightly edited form in Part III. My concluding remarks about Griffin's questions included a three dimensional model of the space of theoretical argument about originalism: that model is presented in Part IV.

Keywords: originalism, constitution, semantic, Stephen Griffin, Ronald Dworkin, Christopher Eisgruber

Working Paper Series