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| | One Does Not Speak of a Successful Trial Lawyer as a Great Scholar of the Law.
“The actual habits and attitudes which operate under the banner of the creed to make the institution effective have a slightly obscene appearance. Nice people do not want to discuss them, except for the purpose of getting rid of them.” |
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< | For Arnold, social institutions are a necessary corollary to our sociality, and we are mostly motivated by these systemic orders in unconscious ways. Though we are all empirically related, our social organizations and institutions often work to suppress our kinship to separate ourselves from “the Other.” The functioning of those orders on our unconsciousness makes it difficult for us to call the thing what it is, except in contexts where the operation of the institution is blatant and meaningless (Santa), or used in such a way as to make us uncomfortable about its effectiveness. This is dually reflected through the purposive content, but underlying ignorance of the New York Times’ “Where Fear Turns Graphic.” That we (choose to) ignore the subtle and less identifiable ways in which we are constantly bombarded with particular attitudes, creeds, and habits leads to problematic results: we see moral culpability in actions from which we can clearly separate ourselves, but create rationalizations where we are (even remotely) complicit. |
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> | For Arnold, social institutions are a necessary corollary to human sociality. Though we are all empirically related, our social organizations and institutions often work to suppress our kinship and to separate ourselves from “the Other.” The functioning of these orders on our unconsciousness makes it difficult for us to call the thing what it is, except in contexts where the operation of the institution is blatant and meaningless (Santa), or used in such a way as to make us uncomfortable about its effectiveness. This is dually reflected through the purposive content, but underlying ignorance of the New York Times’ “Where Fear Turns Graphic.” That we (choose to) ignore the subtle and less identifiable ways in which we are constantly bombarded with particular attitudes, creeds, and habits leads to problematic results: we see moral culpability in actions from which we can separate ourselves, but create rationalizations where we our complicity is more obvious. |
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< | If we acknowledge that politics unconsciously moves us by creating some notion of a general will whose furtherance demands the suppression of the particular, then it seems we must focus our efforts on creating institutional frameworks that tend towards the good and the just. How can I know what is good and what is just? I will seek to be Holmes’ betabilitarian: I cannot measure my choices against a normative standard, but against my predictions on how the universe and people behave. The only choice I have is to place my bets and play. |
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> | If I acknowledge that politics unconsciously moves us by creating some notion of a general will whose furtherance demands the suppression of the particular, then it seems I must focus my efforts on creating and participating in institutional frameworks that tend towards the good and the just. How can I know what is good and what is just? I will seek to be Holmes’ betabilitarian: I cannot measure my choices against a normative standard, but against my predictions on how the universe and people behave. The only choice I have is to place my bets and play. |
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| | Professor Wu used a variant of this metaphor during a capital murder lesson last week: we put our best and brightest into surgery and dermatology when we should all be going into preventative care. We have court-appointed defense lawyers who sleep during a capital murder trial, and a pro-bono firm partner taking the case at the appellate level when it is too late for the client. I want to go into preventative care. |
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< | * My Legal Education. This is perhaps the easiest task before me-- I go to faculty and industry lunches and lectures, belong to student groups, attend student government events and visit professors during office hours. I do my readings and try to supplement them with real world activity. I am going to wring out every dollar I put into this place, and then some. |
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> | * My Legal Education. This is perhaps the easiest task before me-- I go to faculty and industry lunches and lectures, belong to student groups, attend student government events and visit professors during office hours. I do my readings and supplement them with real world activity. I am going to wring out every dollar I put into this place, and then some. |
| | * My Legal Institution. I want to contribute to shaping our institutional organization so that it brings out the best in us as students, as colleagues, and as future advocates. I have some immediate, near future, and long-term ideas to this end. For this class, I commit to the continuation of our dialog past this semester, and graduation. |
| | Building My Boat(s) |
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< | This class cultivates my desire to build my own fleet so that I can tack in all different directions. I want to build a simple Sunfish that can sail--even if there is little room aboard and it cannot go very fast or far. I want to build a multihull trimaran that can cut through the water at ridiculous speeds. I want to build a motorboat for when the wind dies down but I still have somewhere to go. I want to build a yacht where I can enjoy the fruits of my labor and where family and friends can join me. And I want to be so good at building boats that I engender trust from my clients, and inspire others to build on their own. |
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> | This class cultivates my desire to build my own fleet so that I can tack in all different directions. I want to start building a simple Sunfish that can sail--even if there is little room aboard and it cannot go very fast or far. I want to build a multihull trimaran that can cut through the water at ridiculous speeds. I want to build a motorboat for when the wind dies down but I still have somewhere to go. I want to build a yacht where I can enjoy the fruits of my labor and where family and friends can join me. And I want to be so good at building boats that I engender trust from my clients, and inspire others to build on their own. |
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