How should courts interpret the law? Strictly according to the text? By lawmakers’ original intent? By the needs of today’s society? Philosophical ideals? In this talk, Tara Smith, professor of philosophy and BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism at the University of Texas at Austin, argues that the best laws in the world are useless if misunderstood.
The safeguards provided by an objective legal system hinge on a proper understanding of what objective law is. In this lecture, Tara Smith, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas and holder of the BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism, will clarify objectivity itself — not in epistemological detail, but in application to everyday living — and then chart its requisites for a proper legal system. We will see how the function of government sets the terms for the just exercise of state power and how confusions about objectivity result in its corruption.