constructionists
Legal text interpreters
Constructionists hold a particular interpretation of how texts—especially legal documents like constitutions—should be read.
A strict constructionist interprets language narrowly, limiting meaning to what words explicitly say.
A loose or broad constructionist allows for implied powers and evolving interpretation.
The term appears most often in debates over constitutional law and judicial philosophy: The president promised to appoint strict constructionists to the bench.
Interpreting by founding-era meaning
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- textualismInterpreting law literally
- framersThose who construct frames
- intentPlanned purpose
judicial · amendment · precedent · doctrine · jurisprudence · meaning · ratification · historical
Child cognition researcher
- scaffoldingTemporary exterior work platform
- learningGaining knowledge gradually
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
- schemaOrganized representational structure
discovery · inquiry · hands-on · student-centered · accommodation · assimilation · Dewey · experiential
Interpreting life's events personally
- discourseFormal communication on subjects
- identityWho someone is
- genderSocial identity category
- raceCompetition of speed
knowledge · power · Foucault · negotiation · labeling · categories · institutions · norms
originalism
Interpreting by founding-era meaning
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- textualismInterpreting law literally
- framersThose who construct frames
intent · judicial · amendment · precedent · doctrine · jurisprudence · meaning · ratification · historical · evolving
Piaget
Child cognition researcher
- scaffoldingTemporary exterior work platform
- learningGaining knowledge gradually
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
schema · discovery · inquiry · hands-on · student-centered · accommodation · assimilation · Dewey · experiential · problem-based
meaning-making
Interpreting life's events personally
race · knowledge · power · Foucault · negotiation · labeling · categories · institutions · norms · relativism
grammar
Language's structural rules
- syntaxRules for arranging words
- usageAct of employing something
- FillmoreMid-nineteenth-century US leader
Goldberg · idiom · collocation · phraseology · pattern · formulaic · chunk · exemplar · schema · frequency
constructionistsessentialists
Believers in fixed natures
realists · objectivists · naturalists · positivists · nativists
- strict constructionistLiteral constitutional interpreter
deconstructionist, constructionist, deconstructionism, reconstructionist