The Guises of Legalism

Abstract

My intentions in the remainder of this book are directed towards demonstrating in what sense a narrative understanding of law is important. In later chapters I will go into specific issues of different areas of law. Here, my concern is on a more general level. My thesis will be that the interception hypothesis is important not just to refute legalism, but especially to refute proclaimed refutations of legalism that are in fact guises of legalism.¹⁾ This main thesis will allow us to develop, in the chapters to follow, a more precise view on the critical potential of the notion of ‘narrative coherence’.