Image of Law

Alexandre Lefebvre is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Law, McGill University

"I recommend to all those interested in the ongoing debates between so-called 'activist' and diehard 'conservatives' in matters of jurisprudence to read The Image of Law. . . The book must also be read by all those who seek to better understand Deleuze's interest in jurisprudence— especially by those who look for an alternative to de Sutter's "radical jurisprudence." - Constantin V. Boundas (Symposium) "Lefebvre's plain writing style impressively clarifies philosophical concepts without simplifying them, and his reading of Deleuze's Bergsonism merits attention even if the reader has no interest in a Deleuzian theory of adjudication." - Simon Scott (Theory & Event) "Lefebvre's work represents an important shift in contemporary critical legal theory insofar as it answers the need for theory to address internally the categories and schemata of practical reason and judicial rationality. . . it manages to contribute something quite new to the field: a theory of judgment based on Bergsonian memory and perception. At the same time, it avoids the pitfalls of positivism and, arguably, mechanism, while providing a glimpse of the ontological realm of virtuality subtending the actual operations of the legal system. More, its Deleuzian critique of Hart, Dworkin, and Habermas is bound to be useful for future studies. Most broadly, its transposition of rich ontological theory into legal theory opens new vistas for the latter, fostering the creation of new encounters, problems, and concepts in law." - Kyle McGee (Law and Literature) "The Image of the Law is an outstanding book that outlines an innovative theory of creativity in judgment and adjudication. Against the grain of much secondary literature on Deleuze, Lefebvre convincingly demonstrates the value of a 'sober and more mundane' Deleuze for the analysis of existing social and political institutions." - Paul Patton (University of New South Wales) "Lefebvre carries Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze to the questions of law and judgment. All three profit from the encounter. Showing us how juridical judgment secretes an incorrigible element of creativity, he also explores the judicial sensibility needed to negotiate the link between them. The result is a lucid and timely study." - William E. Connolly (Johns Hopkins University) "Lefebvre offers a brilliant, rigorous, and innovative analysis of Bergson and Deleuze's philosophies of time." - Paola Marrati (Johns Hopkins University) "This is a wonderfully interesting book for readers of the three philosophers named in its subtitle. ... The present work will provide readers of continental philosophy with ample opportunity for thought as we come to grips with the provocative encounter Lefebvre has staged for us." - Continental Philosophy Review)

• Contents Prefacexxx Abbreviationsxxx Part 1The Dogmatic Image of Law 1The Judge as Schema: Hart 000 How Does Law Work? Hart's Critique of Austin 000Subsumption in the Critique of Pure Reason 000Schematism and Choice in Adjudication 000 2Reflective Judgment and the Law with Organs: Dworkin 000 The Principle of Principle 000Purposive Interpretation 000Elegantia Juris: Integrity and the Lawfulness of the Contingent 000Natural Purposes: The Law with Organs 000 3Communication, Judgment, Retrospection: Habermas 000 Habermas: Communicative Kantian 000A Deleuzian Reply 000 Reply: Application Discourses 000 Part 2The Image of Law: Bergson and Time000 4Deleuze and the Critique of Law 000 Jurisprudence v. Law 000Critique of Dogmatism in Law and Judgment 000 The Transcendental Encounter (Transcendental Empiricism) 000Critique of Communication 000Critique of Human Rights 000 5The Time of Law I: Evolution in Holmes and Bergson 000 Bergson: Time as Invention (Internal Difference and Differentiation) 000Holmes: Evolution and the Time of Law 000All Is Given: The Possible in Dworkin and Habermas 000 6The Time of Law II: Bergson, Perception, and Memory 000 Pure Perception: Image and the Case as Image 000The Pure Past and the Four Paradoxes of Time 000Two Weak Points of Legal Pragmatism 000 7The Time of Law III: Judgment sub specie durationis 000 The Pure Past of the Law and the Law without Organs 000 Actualizing the Pure Past of Law 000Inattentive Judgment 000Attentive Judgment 000 Griswold and Attentive Judgment 000 Part 3Spinoza and Practice 8Three Spinozist Themes in a Deleuzian Jurisprudence Spinoza's Physics in Deleuze's Philosophy of the Concept000 Delgamuukw I: Creation of a Legal Concept (Aboriginal Title)000 Duration in Spinoza 000 Delgamuukw II: The Creation of Problems as the Power of Adjudication000 Immanence and Expression 000 Summation: The Image of Law 000 Notes Cases Cited Bibliography Index