George Taylor

Professor Emeritus of Law

Biography

George Taylor concentrates his research and writing on evaluating the methods by which judges and lawyers interpret statutory and constitutional law. His articles proposing alternatives to current interpretive approaches have been praised by many legal scholars. In his legal scholarship he brings to bear his graduate training in hermeneutics, which studies interpretive methodology more generally. A special interest in his current research is the nature of legal creativity. His courses provide students a broad background in these subjects.

Key/Recent Publications

Books:

  • Paul Ricoeur, Lectures On Imagination George H. Taylor, ed. (in progress).
  • Ricoeur and Law: The Distinctiveness of Legal Hermeneutics, in Ricoeur Across the Disciplines 84-101 (Scott Davidson ed., Continuum, 2010). Available on SSRN.
  • Law and Creativity, in Philosophy and American Law (Francis J. Mootz, III ed. March 2009). Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor, Law and Creativity, in Philosophy and American Law (Francis J. Mootz, III ed. March 2009). Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor, Racism as 'the Nation's Crucial Sin:' Theology and Derrick Bell, in The Derrick Bell Reader 433 (Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic eds. 2005). Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor, Editor's Introduction, in Paul Ricoeur, Lectures On Ideology And Utopia (Columbia University Press 1986).

Articles:

  • Legal Interpretation: The Window of the Text as Transparent, Opaque, or Translucent, 10 Nevada Law Journal 700 (2010).
  • Equality and Diversity: Some Jurisprudential Considerations, solicited paper for Law and Social Theory Workshop, Law Department, London School of Economics, October 27, 2008.
  • George H. Taylor, The Distinctiveness of Legal Hermeneutics, in Ricoeur Across the Disciplines, Scott Davidson ed., The Continuum International Publishing Group, December 2009. Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor & Michael J. Madison, Metaphor, Objects, and Commodities. (Symposium: Cyberpersons, Propertization, and Contract in the Information Culture), 54 Cleveland State Law Review 141 (2007). Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor, Derrick Bell's Narratives as Parables, 31 New York University Review of Law and Social Change 225 (2007). Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor, Ricoeur's Philosophy of Imagination, 16 Journal of French Philosophy 93 (2006). Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor, Race, Religion, and Law: The Tension Between Spirit and Its Institutionalization, 6 U. Md. L. J. Race, Religion, Gender and Class 51 (2006). Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor, Can a Theory of Interpretation Make a Difference? 5 Graven Images 15 (2002).
  • George H. Taylor, Critical Hermeneutics: The Intertwining of Explanation and Understanding as Exemplified in Legal Analysis, 76 Chicago-Kent Law Review 1101 (2000). Available on SSRN.
  • George H. Taylor, Structural Textualism, 75 Boston University Law Review 321 (1995).

Other Activities

President, Society for Ricoeur Studies (2008)