Thought on Legal Theory - Originalism

I'm trying to space out the posts that are simply me commenting on an article from Slate that I found interesting.

This particular article is a book review of a book written about the career of Justice Scalia. The reviewer critiques the book for being too fair, that the biographer should have spent more time focusing on the articulation of Justice Scalia's position of Constitutional Originalism and exposing the roots of this idea in the man's life.

The article is very interesting, but I found one argument that was particularly insightful.

To paraphrase: Scalia's Originalism is untenable because it is incoherent. His comments on Brown v. Board of Education would lead us to believe that he would fail to be as faithful to the framers of 1868 than the framers of 1780.

I guess that I find this point interesting because it basically relates an individual's insistence on staying faithful to a particular viewpoint rooted in time and place as idolatrous. It would force them to ask the question- "From which viewpoint, 1868 or 1780 is closer to "absolute truth"?" -if there was such a thing.

Book List Up To 11

World War Z-Max Brooks

Mother Night- Kurt Vonnegut

Starship Troopers- Robert Heinlen

Zuckerman Unbound- Philip Roth

The Satanic Verses- Salman Rushdie

Too Far To Go- John Updike

Empire Of Illusion: The end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle- Christopher Hedges

In The Beginning Was The Command Line- Neal Stephenson

Breakfast Of Champions- Kurt Vonnegut

Blue Like Jazz- Donald Miller

Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon- Chuck Palahniuk

A Portland, Oregon guidebook, written by the author that made nihilism a popular cult, presents the city of Portland in a way that probably makes the Chamber of Commerce blush. While most of the book is truly a guidebook, presenting interesting topical attractions and relating a part of their stories. The best descriptions of the city come from the periodic "Postcard's from Portland". These also happen to be the best portions of writing, and the only reason that I would encourage anyone else to read this book. These snapshots of life in Portland over the years are presented in true Palahniuk fashion. The fact that they are portrayed as true gives the reader a load of insight for interpreting Palahniuk's demented fiction.

This book is a member of a series of off-color guidebooks written for several prominent cultural hotspots in the US. I would love to read the one about New Orleans.

Both Blue Like Jazz and Fugitives and Refugees take place in Portland, Oregon. I wonder if the authors have ever met?