Speluncean Explorers THE GEORGE WASHINGTON LAW REVIEW such as the labor movement and nosey social regulations.25 Unlike Pound,however,Holmes emphasized the importance of plain meaning,not only for reasons of democratic theory,but also for rule-of-law reasons.According to Holmes,our polity could not be a government of laws and not men unless legal standards were exter- nal to the decisionmaker.26 For the same reasons that Holmes fa- vored a "reasonable man"'standard in torts cases,he advocated a "normal speaker"theory of plain meaning.27 The legislature-grounded positivism of Holmes's plain-meaning theory is similar to Justice Keen's opinion in The Case of the Speluncean Explorers.28 Keen makes quite a show of segregating his own moral view-that the defendants should not be punished-from his re- sponsibility as a judge: [A]question that I wish to put to one side is that of deciding whether what these men did was“right''or“wrong,”“wicked'or "good."That is...a question that is irrelevant to the discharge of my office as a judge sworn to apply,not my conceptions of mo- rality,but the law of the land.... Whence arise all the difficulties of the case...The difficul- ties,in whatever tortured form they may present themselves,all trace back to a single source,and that is a failure to distinguish the legal from the moral aspects of this case.To put it bluntly,my brothers do not like the fact that the written law requires the con- viction of these defendants.Neither do I,but unlike my brothers I respect the obligations of an office that requires me to put my personal predilections out of my mind when I come to interpret and apply the law of this Commonwealth.29 In a representative democracy,the law is the statutes enacted by the 25."I always say that I regard legislation like buying a ticket to the theatre.If you're sure you want to go to the show and have money to pay for it there is an end of the matter.I may think you foolish to want to go,but that has nothing to do with my duty." Letter from Oliver Wendell Holmes,Jr.,to Franklin Ford(Apr.6,1911),quoted in Daniel R.Ernst,The Critical Tradition in the Writing of Americal Legal History,102 YALE LJ.1019, 1053-54(1993)(book review). 26.OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES,JR.,THE COMMON LAW 41,44 (Boston,Little Brown &Co.1881). 27.Holmes,supra note 24,at 417-18. [WJe ask,not what this man meant,but what those words would mean in the mouth of a normal speaker of English,using them in the circumstances in which they were used....[T]he normal speaker of English is merely a special variety,a literary form,so to speak,of our old friend the prudent man.He is external to the particular writer,and a reference to him as the criterion is simply another instance of the externality of the law. Id. 28.Fuller writes that the Justices are "as mythical as the facts"and that,by "seek[ing]to trace out contemporary resemblances where none is intended or contem- plated,the reader should be warned that he is engaged in a frolic of his own."Fuller, supra note 1,at 645 (Postscript). 29.Id.at 632-33 (opinion of Keen,J.). 1993] 1735 HeinOnline--61 Geo.Wash.L.Rev.1735 1992-1993Speluncean Explorers THE GEORGE WASHINGTON LAW REVIEW such as the labor movement and nosey social regulations. 25 Unlike Pound, however, Holmes emphasized the importance of plain meaning, not only for reasons of democratic theory, but also for rule-of-law reasons. According to Holmes, our polity could not be a government of laws and not men unless legal standards were exter￾nal to the decisionmaker 2 6 For the same reasons that Holmes fa￾vored a "reasonable man" standard in torts cases, he advocated a "normal speaker" theory of plain meaning. 27 The legislature-grounded positivism of Holmes's plain-meaning theory is similar tojustice Keen's opinion in The Case of the Speluncean Explorers.28 Keen makes quite a show of segregating his own moral view-that the defendants should not be punished-from his re￾sponsibility as a judge: [A] question that I wish to put to one side is that of deciding whether what these men did was "right" or "wrong," "wicked" or "good." That is ... a question that is irrelevant to the discharge of my office as ajudge sworn to apply, not my conceptions of mo￾rality, but the law of the land.... Whence arise all the difficulties of the case ... ? The difficul￾ties, in whatever tortured form they may present themselves, all trace back to a single source, and that is a failure to distinguish the legal from the moral aspects of this case. To put it bluntly, my brothers do not like the fact that the written law requires the con￾viction of these defendants. Neither do I, but unlike my brothers I respect the obligations of an office that requires me to put my personal predilections out of my mind when I come to interpret and apply the law of this Commonwealth. 29 In a representative democracy, the law is the statutes enacted by the 25. "I always say that I regard legislation like buying a ticket to the theatre. If you're sure you want to go to the show and have money to pay for it there is an end of the matter. I may think you foolish to want to go, but that has nothing to do with my duty." Letter from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., to Franklin Ford (Apr. 6, 1911), quoted in Daniel R. Ernst, The Critical Tradition in the Writing of Americal Legal History, 102 YALE LJ. 1019, 1053-54 (1993) (book review). 26. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, JR., THE COMMON LAW 41, 44 (Boston, Little Brown & Co. 1881). 27. Holmes, supra note 24, at 417-18. [W]e ask, not what this man meant, but what those words would mean in the mouth of a normal speaker of English, using them in the circumstances in which they were used .... [Tihe normal speaker of English is merely a special variety, a literary form, so to speak, of our old friend the prudent man. He is external to the particular writer, and a reference to him as the criterion is simply another instance of the externality of the law. Id. 28. Fuller writes that the Justices are "as mythical as the facts" and that, by "seek[ing] to trace out contemporary resemblances where none is intended or contem￾plated, the reader should be warned that he is engaged in a frolic of his own." Fuller, supra note 1, at 645 (Postscript). 29. Id. at 632-33 (opinion of Keen, J.). 1993] 1735 HeinOnline -- 61 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1735 1992-1993