Is Duncan Kennedy A Communist?

Is Duncan Kennedy a Communist? By Anthony J. Fejfar, B.A., J.D., Esq., Coif © Copyright 2009 by Anthony J. Fejfar Harvard Law Professor Duncan Kennedy has been quoted for the proposition that Property does not exist, and even more, that law does not exist. What Kennedy has been quoted as saying is consistent with Karl Marx’s rather banal statements is the Communist Manifesto that Property should be abolished and that law is a sham. Kennedy follows the work of Peter Gabel in asserting that Property is a reified concept. The definition that Gabel uses for reification, is “Where an abstract concepts is treated as if it is concrete, then the concept is invalid and reified.”

In fact, given Gabel’s definition every

concept is reified, including reification itself. Thus, reification is itself a reified concept and therefore invalid. Since reification is itself an invalid concept, it cannot be used to critique Property or law in general. It should also be noted that Law itself involves the world of meaning. (Lonergan). As Lonergan puts it, meaning is real, thus law, which is based upon meaning is real.