Private Law Theory

INTRODUCTION
It has been observed that the invention of the alphabetic writing system enabled text to stand alone as an explicit and adequate representation of meaning, relying substantially less on prior knowledge, expectancies and assumptions on the part of the reader. Combined with the advent of the printing press in the fifteenth century, the writing system facilitated the transmission of new knowledge to readers, at a later time and in a different place. The extremity of the shift in orientation towards the presumed autonomy of the text was reflected in Martin Luther’s hermeneutical rule scriptura sui ipsius interpres (‘scripture is its own interpreter’). English contract law does not assume that the meaning of a written contract is in its words alone …

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Rohan Havelock, Speech, writing and contractual interpretation, King’s Law Journal. Published online: 3 December 2024.