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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: October 9, 2002
Latest Update: October 9, 2002
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Balancing Fact and Law in Reasoned Argument

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, September 2002.
"Fair use" encouraged.

It's important to recognize that the legal process operates through the application of statutory or constitutional or administrative law to the particular facts of the case before the court. In this process the legal system does allow for the introduction of narrative that describes the human aspects of the case, though the adversarial process tends to limit the importance attached to the aesthetican amoral components as emphasized by Maria Pia Lara.

the law focuses on a fairly categorical approach to reasoning, the yes/no, just answer the question, that often makes it impossible for the participant to recognize himself/herself in the proceedings. So much of the surrounding details that made the facts make sense to the participants disappears in the course of courtroom challenges which insit on cutting right to the chase.

Part of our objective in adapting the moot court procesdure to pualibc sphere discussions of critical social and political validity claims is to make us all aware of the extent to which rules and porcedures, through strict adherence, can distort our actual purpose.