Jurisfictions
Little Fantasies Raising Deeper Questions about the Nature of Law
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About jurisfictions
“Jurisfictions” is an unusual approach to introducing people to the law. It is a series of little fantasies with added comments which is designed to lure the reader into a more thoughtful approach to law. Socrates claimed that you had to think about life in order to live it properly (“the unreflective life was not worth living”). Dr. McQuade is saying the same thing about law. The curse of law practice, and law teaching for that matter, is taking it a a bunch of rules to be followed to win your case. Contracts are spelled out in detail to cover against every eventuality and governmental regulations and even statutes follow the same route. And it cannot be done. Inevitably the regulations need to be interpreted and that takes thought and he detailed rules have to be litigated or bttled out in some other way.
The little fictions are intended to entice the reader into a more thoughtful approach. The first fiction (The Law v John Austin) takes the form of a paternity suit where the great John Austin is accused of being the father of English law. The problem of a deeper morality underlying the law (brought out in the Nuremberg trials) is dealt with by a game show in Heaven called Name that Norm. The urgent need for a proper science of Law is a constant theme in the book but specially considered in the Ballet of the Books, a show choreographed by a trustee of the Algonquin J Calhoun school of Law, the Rev. Samuel MCWaddy and designed to embarrass the chairman of the board Judge Bergermeister. Other offerings include Oedipus Lex, Underside (a mathematician’s visit to Hell) and Campbellot,a musical introducing the American Legal Realist approach to law.
The fictional authors of these fantasies are a bunch of what the Irish would call “characters”. They include John Ignatius O’Flynn, a failed law student turned dramatist: the great O’Houlihan, a retired law professor permanently enraged by the great John Austin: Hammer and Rodgerstein who wrote and played in the musical Campbellot: Count Nicholai Dimski, the Russian émigré mathematician who dreamed up “Underside”: and the aforesaid Judge Bergermeister and Rev Samuel McWaddy.
The comments that follow each fiction reflect the fact that the author, Dr. McQuade, has had a long and varied journey in the law and in other trades, and is well worth a hearing (or reading).
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About the Book
J. Stanley McQuade, a longtime professor of law, knows all too well that you can’t teach the subject by reiterating technical rules and procedures.
To really understand law and how it works, it is necessary to identify and consider the underlying ideas that led to the creation of law and legal systems. That’s exactly what he does in this collection of stories.
All of the characters in each of the stories—except one—are entirely fictitious, but they provide a critical introduction to important thinkers who have contributed substantially to the development of law, such as John Austin, the American legal realists, Bentham, John Rawls, St. Thomas Aquinas, and others.
The stories also explore topics such as the nature of legal science, legal logic, the place of moral values in the law, and the proper conduct of law reform.
Whether you’re a student seeking to answer questions about important founding principles of the law, a teacher aiming to make learning about law fun and interesting, or someone simply craving more knowledge, you’ll learn valuable lessons about the legal system with Jurisfictions.
About the Author
J. Stanley McQuade is the Lynch Professor of the Philosophy of Law at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in Raleigh, North Carolina. Born in Bangor, Northern Ireland, he has spent much of his career in the United States. He holds advanced degrees in law, philosophy, theology and medicine. He is a board certified anesthesiologist and an ordained Methodist minister.