Effect and Technique in Legal Aesthetics

2 Critical Analysis of Law 496 (2015)

24 Pages Posted: 11 Jun 2015 Last revised: 1 Nov 2017

See all articles by Simon Stern

Simon Stern

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

Date Written: June 10, 2015

Abstract

Discussions of legal aesthetics often proceed as if it were sufficient, in exploring law’s aesthetic dimensions, to refer to effects such as symmetry, balance, and proportionality. Those effects, however, might be produced by any number of techniques, and aesthetic technique tells us more about the meaning and context of legal ideas than effects do. After discussing various kinds of inquiries into legal aesthetics, this essay turns to Blackstone’s Commentaries as a source for the techniques that inform modern legal writing and analysis.

Keywords: law, aesthetics, Blackstone

Suggested Citation

Stern, Simon, Effect and Technique in Legal Aesthetics (June 10, 2015). 2 Critical Analysis of Law 496 (2015), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2616589

Simon Stern (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

78 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/full-time-faculty/simon-stern

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