Prawfsblawg wonders why we write legal scholarship, and can’t come up with a compelling answer. (To change the world? Too broad. To earn tenure? Too pragmatic.)
That’s not such a difficult question, is it? Unless you take it in a particularly narrow and not very interesting sense (”why write about security interests in intangible property?”). Why does anyone write? Except for diarists, we write to be read. (Even diarists may want to be read — just not so soon.) We have thoughts and ideas, knowledge and information, which we want to share with other people. Writing is a way of touching those who read our work, and being touched by those whose work we read.
All of which is a long way ’round of saying that it’s all about the money, sex, and fame, in some combination.
UPDATE: This, too, turns out to be a copyright post. Take a look at Science fiction author John Scalzi’s response to critics who roughed him up for being down with “piracy.”
3 responses so far ↓
1 Siva // May 20, 2005 at 1:50 pm
Does legal scholarship make you famous? Get read (beyond an audience of 100 or so)?
2 Is That Legal? // May 28, 2005 at 7:00 pm
Why I Write.
Why do I write? (Here’s why Orin Kerr writes, here’s why Michael Froomkin does, and here’s why Michael Madison does.) I’ve been in academia for eleven years now, and today’s answer is very different from the answer I would…
3 SIVACRACY.NET: Opinions, Rants, and Obsessions of Siva Vaidhyanathan and his Friends and Family // May 31, 2005 at 9:07 am
Why Do They Write?
The Blogging Law Professors are all over this question. Ann’s post below was the best so far. I have noticed these: • Michael Madison • Orin Kerr • Michael Froomkin • Sally Greene • Eric Muller There must be many…
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