Abstract
Philosophers have developed concepts concerning how linguistic usage occurs, and how texts whose meaning is disputed are interpreted. The concepts include realising that speech is used to perform an action, that these speech acts have a purpose that is not dependent on the intentions of the person who performed them, that empirical concepts are inevitably unable to be defined completely, that context is essential to understand the meaning of any speech act, and that the meaning of any utterance is closely connected to what the utterance is used to do. The concept of the hermeneutical circle explains the processes involved in coming to understand any text. These concepts are useful to the lawyer in interpreting a disputed text. They support the radically different view about the role of legislative intention in statutory construction that the High Court has adopted since 2008.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-45 |
| Journal | Australian Bar Review |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |