ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the intentional teaching of critique through legal philosophy can shape the future lawyer’s and legally-trained citizen’s capacities to work towards just institutions. While understanding the transnational dimension of law and being prepared to function within a legal climate that is no longer primarily local are important aims of legal education, the role of legal education in shaping the lawyer’s understanding of the foundational ideals of law has received, in comparison, short shrift. Law in fact becomes the power phenomenon that positivistic theories such as Austin Sarat’s view of laws as sovereign commands render them. Understanding whether law is a power phenomenon or is connected with morality affects other areas of legal doctrine. In contrast, American legal realists think that legal rules are under-determinative and techniques of treating precedents give judges the leeway to find a legal rule to justify a decision they prefer for reasons unrelated to the rules.
