The Keepers of Traditions: The English Common Lawyers and the Presence of Law

17 Pages Posted: 12 Dec 2008

Date Written: December 11, 2008

Abstract

This paper looks into the subtle frame of the legal traditions, exploring the structural relationship that indissolubly binds history, law and narrative. The core of the Author's thought is that the ontological and epistemological views on the nature of historical past decide the fate of legal discourse and juridical arguments. Rediscovering the centrality of T.S. Eliot's notion of pastness as a meaningful concept that claims to be investigated when cultural heritage is at stake, this paper inquires into the active role played by English Legal Profession in the formulation of a foundational narrative with the structure of a legal tradition. Common Lawyers were the skilful selectors of the means of expression of political power and authority of Law. It is in the common lawyers' narrative and aesthetics that we meet a conscious paradigm of political theology.

Keywords: legal traditions, narrative, aesthetics, body of Law, political theology, legal discourse, Common Law, canon, nomos

JEL Classification: K10, K30, K40, K49

Suggested Citation

Costantini, Cristina, The Keepers of Traditions: The English Common Lawyers and the Presence of Law (December 11, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1314710 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1314710

Cristina Costantini (Contact Author)

University of Bergamo ( email )

Via Salvecchio, 19
Bergamo, 24129
Italy

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
213
Abstract Views
1,170
Rank
259,465
PlumX Metrics