Towards a semiotic theory of style in law A Peircean approach /
This paper discusses the promises and limits of a Peircean semiotic approach to the concept of style in law. It does so in two steps: first (1) by identifying the place of style within the structure of law as a system of signs, then (2) by conceptualising the link between law and style in the though...
| Main Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
2019
|
| Series: | INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LAW IN CONTEXT
15 No. 3 |
| doi: | 10.1017/S1744552319000272 |
| mtmt: | 30859727 |
| Online Access: | https://publikacio.ppke.hu/2274 |
| Summary: | This paper discusses the promises and limits of a Peircean semiotic approach to the concept of style in law. It does so in two steps: first (1) by identifying the place of style within the structure of law as a system of signs, then (2) by conceptualising the link between law and style in the thought of C.S. Peirce and highlighting some of the insights from a Peircean take on legal semiotics that may contribute to our understanding of the role of style in making meaning in law. It is argued that, for a Peircean analysis of law, three levels can be distinguished, from the ‘surface structure’ down to the ‘deep structure’. It is at the middle level (that of the ‘basic structure’) that a semiotic approach can yield coherent insights in terms of style, by examining the symbols and metaphors that make for the expressibility of ‘habits’, namely experience-based patterns of action and interpretation. |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | 263-273 |
| ISSN: | 1744-5523 |