Florida Law Review
Abstract
More work on originalism would seem to be among the last things the world needs. Yet the author hope to add two things to the debate. The first is a suggestion that originalist practice and theorizing have fallen prey to the phenomenon of methodolatry. This refers to an excessive focus on refinement of method for its own sake and in a manner that loses sight of the goals the method is designed to serve and, more importantly, the tendencies and capacities of those who must implement it. The second is to point out that there is an ingredient of judicial decisionmaking that occurs prior to, and is more important than, method. That ingredient is character. No method will constrain a judge acting in bad faith or a judge who is too susceptible to motivated reasoning. A judge with the appropriate character, or so the author contend, is preferable to one without, even when that judge operates according to no identifiable method. The identification of people with such character cannot be reduced to a formula, but experience suggests they exist. And evidence suggests that the appropriate traits can be nurtured and developed.
Recommended Citation
Chad Oldfather,
Originalism, Methodolatry, and the Only Guarantee of Wisdom,
77 Fla. L. Rev.
2183
(2025).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol77/iss6/8