Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, and the Noble Lie

Michael C. Dorf writes at Findlaw: “Finally, perhaps some sophisticated judges and politicians may speak the language of formalism as a kind of ‘noble lie.’ In The Republic, Plato provocatively suggests that to keep the lower classes (including slaves) from revolting against their rulers, it would be useful to brainwash the public into thinking that the social order is ordained by the gods. The lie is, in Plato’s view, noble, because it preserves civil peace, but it is a lie nonetheless. So too with formalism. Perhaps the rule of law depends on the public’s belief that the law is substantially more determinate than it in fact is.”