ABSTRACT
The insight from Immanuel Kant has been that legal reasoning, like all exercises of reason, is merely a regulative process, and not in itself the source of constitutive truth. This chapter presents several modest suggestions about reflection on these particular topics. The concept of blending is a powerful image for the non-algorithmic aspect of judgment. Blends are metaphors. Conceptual blending is a powerful description of the process by which we continuously create meaning. What strikes about its application to professional judgment beyond pure lawyering is the combination of empathy with that understanding. Even the most dyed-in-the-wool evidence-based management gurus have no reductive silver bullet for wise decision-making. Real learning is related to a certain kind of leadership, the idea of coach-mentor-inspirer that modern leadership theory extols over old-fashioned command-and-control. Law and judgments are subject to wide-ranging disputes about what they are but they are undoubtedly of this practical world. Justice and wisdom, on the other hand, are aspirations.
