Mind, Language and legal interpretation: derived intentionality and literal interpretation of legal texts

Authors

  • Alysson Fernando Paiva Chaves Universidade Federal do Piauí https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3284-5097
  • Olivia Brandao Melo Campelo Universidade Federal do Piauí

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20873/uft.2359-0106.2024.v11n2.p47-64

Keywords:

Hermenêutica Jurídica, John Searle, Linguagem

Abstract

This article explores legal interpretation through the lens of John Searle's socio-ontological studies from the 1960s. The central question revolves around the possibility of a literal interpretation of the law. Using the concepts of speech acts, intentionality, direction of fit, and reference proposed by John Searle, the article analyzes illocutionary acts, directions of fit, and the relationship between intentionality and legal interpretation. It concludes that the Latin adage "in claris cessat interpretio" can be understood as a process of clarifying elementary assumptions in circumscribed contexts. The term "literal interpretation" suggests a contextualized elementary approach to legal text. Thus, it is impossible to speak of a zero interpretative context or a literal interpretation that takes the text of the law as self-referential.

 

Author Biographies

Alysson Fernando Paiva Chaves, Universidade Federal do Piauí

Graduado em Direito, Especialista em Direito Penal e Processo Penal, Mestrando em Direito Pela UFPI

Olivia Brandao Melo Campelo, Universidade Federal do Piauí

Mestre e Doutora em Filosofia do Direito e do Estado na PUC/SP. Especialista em Direito Constitucional pela PUC/SP

References

ANSCOMBE, Elizabeth. On Brute Facts. Analysis (Vol. 18, No. 3, Jan., 1958) Published by: Oxford University Press - http://www.jstor.org/pss/3326788

AUSTIN, J. L. 1962. How to do things with words. Harvard University Press (Traduzido por Danilo Marcondes de Souza Filho. Quando Dizer é Fazer Palavras e Ação. Porto Alegre: Artes Médicas, 1990).

SEARLE, John. Expression and Meaning Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 1979

SEARLE, John. Freedom and neurobiology: reflections on free will, language and political Power. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.

SEARLE, John. Making the social world: The structure of human civilization. Oxford University Press. 2010

SEARLE, John. (1995). The construction of social reality. Simon and Schuster. 1995.

SEARLE, John. Intencionalidade. WMF Martins Fontes; 1ª edição. 2002.

SEARLE, John. ‘A taxonomy of illocutionary acts,’ in K. Gunderson (ed.), Language, Mind and Knowledge. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1975 344–369.

Published

2024-12-04

How to Cite

Chaves, A. F. P., & Campelo, O. B. M. (2024). Mind, Language and legal interpretation: derived intentionality and literal interpretation of legal texts. Vertentes Do Direito, 11(2), 47–64. https://doi.org/10.20873/uft.2359-0106.2024.v11n2.p47-64