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The main focus of this study is Benhabib' s concepts of the 'concrete other' and 'interactive' universalism, Cornell's 'ethical' feminist thought and Nedelsky's argument on 'rights as relationship'. The need for an affirmation of the feminine is emphasised. I argue that we should strive towards a 'new choreography of sexual difference' based on the ethical view that 'woman' cannot be described in the present. She is the beyond. My study explore the implications of ethical feminism for the possibility of the transformation of a legal system and society as a whole. In this regard it lays particular emphasis on Derrida's concept of 'justice as aporia' and justice as limit to a legal system. I discuss pornography as a concrete example of texts that may either frustrate transformation or contribute to it. I argue in . this regard that pornography should not be banned but that access to pornography should be subjected to restrictions. This approach will serve the ambigious nature of pornography as both a threat to and a vehicle for the exploration of the feminine in contemporary society. / Private Law / LL.M.

published_or_final_version / Law / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis is about the nature of value incommensurability and its significance for judicial reasoning. It argues that there can be incommensurable values and that this incommensurability can have significant implications for judicial reasoning. I argue that incommensurability gives rise to a range of reasonableness, within which it is reasonable but in a sense also arbitrary to decide either way, and that this range is wider than is suggested by the notion that some options are roughly equal, because even a large improvement to one option may not make it the uniquely correct option. The thesis goes on to consider the effect that the authority of law can have on choices between incommensurable options. Although I argue that the authority of law can sometimes provide a conclusive reason to choose one of two incommensurable options, I also argue that it has limits and may not do so in every case of incommensurability. Moreover, the introduction of an authoritative directive may even give rise to incommensurable options where none previously existed. The thesis then draws out the implications of these claims, first, for human-rights adjudication—where my claim is that ‘balancing’ is appropriate both in the specification of rights and in assessing the justification for their infringement, provided we acknowledge the limits of balancing in cases of incommensurability—and, secondly, for adjudication involving common law reasoning and statutory interpretation. Finally, I suggest that we can distinguish between different ideals of the rule of law, and that the arbitrariness of judicial decisions involving incommensurable options has different implications for those different ideals. The arbitrariness involved in choosing between undefeated reasons may be necessary contrary to one ideal of the rule of law, understood as the rule of authority, but not contrary to an ideal of the rule of law understood as the rule of reason.

published_or_final_version / Philosophy / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

The thesis examines the origins and function of legal theory ( usul al-fiqh) within the context of the development of early Islamic law. I argue against the depiction of the development of law as a series of compromises between traditionalism and rationalism. Rather, by evading the demands of traditionalism, law evolved into a complex doctrinal entity rooted in the social structures of third-century Abbasid society. This revision of the development of law provides a context to evaluate early works of legal theory. Moreover, in context of my analysis of the development of law, I attempt to explain the emergence of legal theory as an independent discipline and its function within the greater structure of law.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [92]-100).