Let a Thousand Nomoi Bloom? Four Problems with Robert Cover's 'Nomos and Narrative'

Brooks, Thom

doi:10.2202/1539-8323.1071

Let a Thousand Nomoi Bloom? Four Problems with Robert Cover's 'Nomos and Narrative'

Brooks, Thom

Authors

Professor Thom Brooks thom.brooks@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Robert Cover's well known article Nomos and Narrative is a passionately argued defense of a new way of applying narrative to the philosophy and understanding of law. In my article, I argue that there are four major problems which lie at the heart of Cover's analysis. Each problem addresses a major area of his overall view of law. I try to demonstrate that in each case, if the problem is real, Cover's view of law should be rejected. The primary difficulty is analytical and argumentative sloppiness in Cover's arguments. My conclusion is simple: Cover's view of law is both underdeveloped and theoretically unsafe. It falls victim to each of the four problems I identify. As a result, his philosophy of law should be rejected tout court.

Citation

Brooks, T. (2006). Let a Thousand Nomoi Bloom? Four Problems with Robert Cover's 'Nomos and Narrative'. Issues in Legal Scholarship, 6(1), https://doi.org/10.2202/1539-8323.1071

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jan 4, 2006
Deposit Date	Nov 21, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Mar 14, 2013
Journal	Issues in Legal Scholarship
Publisher	De Gruyter
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	6
Issue	1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.2202/1539-8323.1071