This book is the first full-length study by a professional philosopher of one of the most important constitutional controversies of our time: whether courts, in deciding constitutional cases, must adhere to the 'original intent' of the framers.
Gregory Bassham is associate professor of philosophy at King's College. His articles have appeared in Analysis and the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy.
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The strength of this work is its illuminating analysis of the varieties of original intent theory, and the problems...of some of them. -- F. E. Devine, University of Southern Mississippi ... [Bassham's] detailed examination of originalism will enlighten both its proponents and its opponents. Review of Politics Bassham has written an important book, made even better by the fact that each chapter has well over a hundred footnotes. It is a well-documented, intelligent book which argues that original intent is a flawed concept and cannot be used in a rigid fashion. Southeastern Political Review ...an original and sophisticated philosophical discussion of central issues in contemporary constitutional theory. It is required reading for anyone who wants to probe the debates between 'originalists' and 'nonoriginalists'-or the debates between those who find the originalism/nonoriginalism distinction useful and those who do not. -- Michael J. Perry, the Howard J. Trienens Professor of Law at the Northwestern University Law School
