ABSTRACT
Utilitarianism focuses all available intellectual resources on the future, considering the past only to the extent that doing so is part of a sound strategy to promote the general welfare. Utilitarians look to history, economics, psychology, and all the other social and natural sciences in deciding how best to promote the common good. The utilitarian seeks a conception of the general welfare that is applicable regardless of differences exist among people and then hopes, with that as a basis, to describe the institutions, laws, and practices that will promote it. The chapter argues judicial review and constitutional interpretation in terms of the social contract while democratic proceduralism looks to the self-justifying character of democratic processes themselves. It focuses on the philosophical assumptions and arguments behind three familiar legal theories: original intent, democratic proceduralism, and Critical Legal Studies (CLS).
