The Representation of an Evolving System of Legal Concepts: II. Prototypes and Deformations

One of tha principal goals of tha TAXMAN project is to develop a theory about the structure and dynamics of legal concapts, using corporate tax law as an experimental problem domain In this paper we describe the "prototype* plus-deformation" model of legal conceptual structure a concept is represented here by a prototypical description plus a sequence of deformations of the prototype, where the deformations are selected from among the possible "mappmga" of one concrete description into another The paper focuses on the set of mappings, which is the most important component of the model because it makes manifest the basic coherence of the conceptual space The syntax and semantics of the mappings are described, and their role in the process of legal argument is suggested The formal modal is then illustrated by examples drawn from Eisner v Macomber, an early stock dividend case