Gregory Klass: A Short History of the Interpretation-Construction Distinction
Michael Ramsey
Gregory Klass (Georgetown University Law Center) has posted A Short History of the Interpretation-Construction Distinction (7 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This document collects for ease of access and citation three of my posts on the New Private Law Blog, which chart the conceptual history of the interpretation-construction distinction. The posts begin with Francis Lieber’s 1939 introduction of the concepts, then describes Samual Williston’s 1920 account of the distinction in the first edition of Williston on Contracts, and concludes with Arthur Linton Corbin’s 1951 reconceptualization in the first edition of Corbin on Contracts. The posts identify two different conceptions of the distinction. Under the first (Lieber and Williston), construction supplements interpretation. Under the second (Corbin), the two activities complement one another. The complementary conception is the better one.
Via Larry Solum at Legal Theory Blog, who says:
If you are going to discuss or even mention the interpretation-construction distinction in your own work, this paper is both essential reading and a mandatory citation. And it's short! Highly recommended. Download it while it's hot!