Alani Golanski
@alanigolanski.bsky.social
Philosophy @ Graduate Center CUNY, James Kent Scholar @ ColumbiaLaw, Ghanaian drumming @ CalArts -- Partner/Director @ Weitz & Luxenberg
Pinned
Alani Golanski
@alanigolanski.bsky.social
· Dec 29
WHY THE RULE OF LAW PROJECT DEMANDS EXTRALEGAL CHANGE | Published in Capital University Law Review
By Alani Golanski. This article explores whether the rule of law project can evaluate conditions in society distinct from attributes of the legal system or sources rooted in power.
www.capitallawreview.org
By valuing capabilities to assert rights and defenses, coordinate opposition to arbitrary authority, and participate in democratic governance, the rule of law unexpectedly & subversively demands social & economic conditions that foster those capabilities.
www.capitallawreview.org/article/1278...
www.capitallawreview.org/article/1278...
Judith Shklar held (1964) that legal theorists were most concerned about confusion not over law and morals but regarding the proper spheres of private and public life.
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Judith Shklar held (1964) that legal theorists were most concerned about confusion not over law and morals but regarding the proper spheres of private and public life.
Karl Marx, in Neue Rheinische Zeitung (June 1848)
November 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Karl Marx, in Neue Rheinische Zeitung (June 1848)
Dworkin's basic standard of "integrity" stands for the political ideal by which citizens recognize one another as free and equal, and are obligated to realize the basic norm of equal concern and equal respect for each person in the practices of society.
-- Jürgen Habermas
-- Jürgen Habermas
November 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Dworkin's basic standard of "integrity" stands for the political ideal by which citizens recognize one another as free and equal, and are obligated to realize the basic norm of equal concern and equal respect for each person in the practices of society.
-- Jürgen Habermas
-- Jürgen Habermas
The philosopher, social scientist, and German émigré Friedrich Pollack cautioned in 1970, "all these symptoms of disintegration of a 'Great Society' point to no other alternative but the loss of liberties and the rule of narrow materialism under a ruthless 'Führer'."
November 25, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The philosopher, social scientist, and German émigré Friedrich Pollack cautioned in 1970, "all these symptoms of disintegration of a 'Great Society' point to no other alternative but the loss of liberties and the rule of narrow materialism under a ruthless 'Führer'."
G. A. Cohen - Marxist Boxing Match: Roemer vs. Habermas
YouTube video by Nicholas Vrousalis
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Neil McCormick labeled his legal theory "post-positivist," arguing that while law depends on customs and authoritative decisions hence is "posited," there are moral limits (extremes of injustice) that conceptually disqualify the institutional normative order from being "law."
November 24, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Neil McCormick labeled his legal theory "post-positivist," arguing that while law depends on customs and authoritative decisions hence is "posited," there are moral limits (extremes of injustice) that conceptually disqualify the institutional normative order from being "law."
The premise of Joseph Raz's first book (1970) was that all prior analytical jurisprudence had failed to realize that a theory of the legal system is a prerequisite to any adequate definition of 'a law'.
November 24, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The premise of Joseph Raz's first book (1970) was that all prior analytical jurisprudence had failed to realize that a theory of the legal system is a prerequisite to any adequate definition of 'a law'.
Reposted by Alani Golanski
"Palti’s study . . . places its author within the tradition of scholars who interrogate the conditions of possibility of their own discipline."
New in review, Senida Poenariu on Elías J. Palti's Intellectual History and the Problem of Conceptual Change: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/senida_poena...
New in review, Senida Poenariu on Elías J. Palti's Intellectual History and the Problem of Conceptual Change: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/senida_poena...
November 21, 2025 at 10:56 PM
"Palti’s study . . . places its author within the tradition of scholars who interrogate the conditions of possibility of their own discipline."
New in review, Senida Poenariu on Elías J. Palti's Intellectual History and the Problem of Conceptual Change: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/senida_poena...
New in review, Senida Poenariu on Elías J. Palti's Intellectual History and the Problem of Conceptual Change: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/senida_poena...
Upon announcing France's collaboration with Germany (Oct 1940), Marshal Philippe Pétain states, "This is my policy. My ministers are responsible to me. It is I alone who will be judged by History."
November 22, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Upon announcing France's collaboration with Germany (Oct 1940), Marshal Philippe Pétain states, "This is my policy. My ministers are responsible to me. It is I alone who will be judged by History."
Wow, Jacques Derrida Interviews Ornette Coleman (Paris 1997)
www.jazzstudiesonline.org/files/jso/re...
www.jazzstudiesonline.org/files/jso/re...
November 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Wow, Jacques Derrida Interviews Ornette Coleman (Paris 1997)
www.jazzstudiesonline.org/files/jso/re...
www.jazzstudiesonline.org/files/jso/re...
It is precisely the fact that variations and developments in cultural practices are not determined at an evolutionary level that makes the human characteristic of living under culture such an extraordinary evolutionary success.
-- Bernard Williams
-- Bernard Williams
November 22, 2025 at 6:17 PM
It is precisely the fact that variations and developments in cultural practices are not determined at an evolutionary level that makes the human characteristic of living under culture such an extraordinary evolutionary success.
-- Bernard Williams
-- Bernard Williams
This volume (1937) was a political science staple for three decades - Plato to fascism - George Sabine professor of philosophy @Cornell, also a carpenter and blacksmith, assisted Herbert Marcuse with his 1941 work Reason and Revolution.
November 22, 2025 at 1:53 PM
This volume (1937) was a political science staple for three decades - Plato to fascism - George Sabine professor of philosophy @Cornell, also a carpenter and blacksmith, assisted Herbert Marcuse with his 1941 work Reason and Revolution.
Bernard Williams' terrific 2000 lecture, incl his contemplation of "the well known and highly typical style of many texts in analytic philosophy which seeks precision by total mind control, through issuing continuous and rigid interpretive directions."
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
Adobe Acrobat
acrobat.adobe.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Bernard Williams' terrific 2000 lecture, incl his contemplation of "the well known and highly typical style of many texts in analytic philosophy which seeks precision by total mind control, through issuing continuous and rigid interpretive directions."
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
Interestingly, Kelsen likened national law & the dogma of an unrestricted state sovereignty to the Ptolemaic view & linked this to an imperialist political ideology; in contrast, he analogized international law to the Copernican frame of reference, tending to foster pacifism.
November 21, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Interestingly, Kelsen likened national law & the dogma of an unrestricted state sovereignty to the Ptolemaic view & linked this to an imperialist political ideology; in contrast, he analogized international law to the Copernican frame of reference, tending to foster pacifism.
In case wondering what the crime of sedition actually is, or to what extent it's punishable
November 21, 2025 at 1:12 PM
In case wondering what the crime of sedition actually is, or to what extent it's punishable
Robert Paul Wolff distinguished two approaches to philosophical writing: (1) precise anatomical dissection defending against innumerable possible counterexamples; (2) deep development of a central insight, capable of both introducing the material and genuinely advancing thought.
November 20, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Robert Paul Wolff distinguished two approaches to philosophical writing: (1) precise anatomical dissection defending against innumerable possible counterexamples; (2) deep development of a central insight, capable of both introducing the material and genuinely advancing thought.
Vincent Willem van Gogh, The Prison Courtyard (1890)
November 20, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Vincent Willem van Gogh, The Prison Courtyard (1890)
Joint Forward by, in the order referenced, Robert Paul Wolff, Herbert Marcuse, and Barrington Moore, Jr.
November 19, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Joint Forward by, in the order referenced, Robert Paul Wolff, Herbert Marcuse, and Barrington Moore, Jr.
An impulsive, capricious rant, delegated to an inexperienced sycophant, usually cannot be instantaneously transformed into correct legal practice.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...
Trump Loyalist Admits Grand Jury Never Saw Final Comey Indictment
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
An impulsive, capricious rant, delegated to an inexperienced sycophant, usually cannot be instantaneously transformed into correct legal practice.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...
Recommended analysis by Brian Z. Tamanaha on how the current bad faith administration exploits existing doctrines and a structural difference between the executive and courts to effectively undermine the rule of law.
openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_scholars...
openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_scholars...
Lessons Learned from the Trump Rule of Law Stress Test: Beware Bad Faith Actors
The second Trump Administration has engaged in a vast swath of actions that press against the outer boundaries of legality. These actions provide a unique opportunity to identify potential vulnerabil...
openscholarship.wustl.edu
November 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Recommended analysis by Brian Z. Tamanaha on how the current bad faith administration exploits existing doctrines and a structural difference between the executive and courts to effectively undermine the rule of law.
openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_scholars...
openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_scholars...
A commitment to equal freedom is not a compromise between freedom and equality. What 'equality' does in that formula is to pin down the form of our commitment to freedom; and what 'freedom' does is to indicate what it is that we are concerned to equalize.
-- Jeremy Waldron
-- Jeremy Waldron
November 18, 2025 at 9:10 PM
A commitment to equal freedom is not a compromise between freedom and equality. What 'equality' does in that formula is to pin down the form of our commitment to freedom; and what 'freedom' does is to indicate what it is that we are concerned to equalize.
-- Jeremy Waldron
-- Jeremy Waldron
Reposted by Alani Golanski
One of the things I often see in scholarship on public law, or at least in criminal procedure, is what you might call The Reference Problem.
The author wants more of Right X, but needs to root the argument for more X in something beyond the author's preference.
(Thread.)
The author wants more of Right X, but needs to root the argument for more X in something beyond the author's preference.
(Thread.)
November 18, 2025 at 7:50 PM
One of the things I often see in scholarship on public law, or at least in criminal procedure, is what you might call The Reference Problem.
The author wants more of Right X, but needs to root the argument for more X in something beyond the author's preference.
(Thread.)
The author wants more of Right X, but needs to root the argument for more X in something beyond the author's preference.
(Thread.)
Link to today's ruling by Mag Judge Fitzpatrick within, marshaling a series of likely improprieties by the Admin, including the likely impossibility that Halligan actually presented the final indictment to the grand jury - all of which "may justify" dismissal.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...
Judge Says Justice Dept. May Have Committed Misconduct in Comey Case
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Link to today's ruling by Mag Judge Fitzpatrick within, marshaling a series of likely improprieties by the Admin, including the likely impossibility that Halligan actually presented the final indictment to the grand jury - all of which "may justify" dismissal.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...
Great open access issue of the Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence, inc Richard Stillman's disagreement with Dworkin on theoretical disagreement, John Oberdiek on the rule of law, Ernest Weinrib on internal morality specific to legal relationships.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence | Cambridge Core
Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence - Margaret Martin, Zoë Sinel
www.cambridge.org
November 16, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Great open access issue of the Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence, inc Richard Stillman's disagreement with Dworkin on theoretical disagreement, John Oberdiek on the rule of law, Ernest Weinrib on internal morality specific to legal relationships.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
If one believes with Gramsci that an intellectual vocation is socially possible as well as desirable, then it's self-contradictory to rest analyses of historical experience on an exclusionary axiom that only a group's members can understand that group's experience.
-- Edward Said
-- Edward Said
November 16, 2025 at 8:30 PM
If one believes with Gramsci that an intellectual vocation is socially possible as well as desirable, then it's self-contradictory to rest analyses of historical experience on an exclusionary axiom that only a group's members can understand that group's experience.
-- Edward Said
-- Edward Said