Language and Legal Judgments - Evaluation and Argument in Judicial Discourse

Integrating research methods from linguistics with contemporary legal argumentation theory, this book highlights the complexities of legal justification by focusing on the role of value-laden language in argument construction and use. The combination of linguistic analysis and the pragma-dialectic approach to legal argumentation yields a new way of perceiving and understanding the phenomenon of evaluation, one that offers theoretical and practical gains. Analyzing a vast corpus of judicial opinions from the US Supreme Court and Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, the book paints a clear picture of complex linguistic choices made by judges to assess and support arguments in the justifications of their decisions. The book will be of interest to scholars in Law, Linguistics and Rhetoric, as well as to judges and practicing lawyers engaged in the art of argumentation.

List of contents

About the Author; Preface; Part I: Introduction; 1. Evaluation. What is it, and why does it matter? 2. Evaluation, argumentation and the justification of judicial decisions; Part II: Evaluative language patterns as a persuasive device; 3. Evaluating processes and propositions; 4. Evaluating status and sites of contention; Part III: Uncovering evoked and less obvious evaluative meanings; 5. Value-based lexis and argument in morally sensitive issues; 6. Evaluative language, the Ideal Model of Critical Discussion and Strategic Manoeuvring; 7. Pulling the strands together.

About the author

Stanisław Goźdź-Roszkowski is Associate Professor and Head of Department of Specialized Languages and Intercultural Communication at the University of Łódź, Poland.

Summary

Integrating research methods from Linguistics with contemporary Legal Argumentation Theory, this book highlights the complexities of legal justification by focusing on the role of value-laden language in argument construction and use.

Product details

• Authors: Stanisaw Gozdz-Roszkowski, Stanislaw Gozdz-Roszkowski, Stanisław Goźdź-Roszkowski
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 06.02.2024
• EAN: 9781032366906
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3236690-6
• No. of pages: 174
• Series: Law, Language and Communication
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; Social sciences, law, business > Law > International law, foreign law; LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Semantics, LAW / Comparative, LAW / Legal Writing, Writing & editing guides, comparative law, Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics, Legal skills & practice, Semantics, discourse analysis, etc, Jurisprudence & Philosophy Of Law, Methods, theory and philosophy of law, Legal skills: drafting and legal writing