# Open texture

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{{short description|Philosophical term introduced by  Friedrich Waismann}}
'''Open texture''' is a term in the philosophy of [Friedrich Waismann](/source/Friedrich_Waismann), first introduced in his paper "Verifiability" to refer to the universal possibility of [vagueness](/source/vagueness) in empirical statements. He had coined the phrase "die Porosität der Begriffe" ("the porosity of concepts") for this purpose and credits [William Kneale](/source/William_Kneale) for suggesting the English term that he then adopted.<ref>Friedrich Waismann, "Verifiability", ''[Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society](/source/Proceedings_of_the_Aristotelian_Society), Supplementary Volumes'', Vol. 19 (1945), p. 121 {{JSTOR|4106531}}</ref> It is an application of some of the ideas that would later appear in [Wittgenstein's](/source/Ludwig_Wittgenstein) ''[Philosophical Investigations](/source/Philosophical_Investigations)'', particularly ''Section 80''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bix |first=Brian |title=The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199572120 |editor-last=Tiersma |editor-first=Peter Meijes |location=Oxford |pages=149 |chapter=Legal Interpretation And The Philosophy Of Language |editor-last2=Solan |editor-first2=Lawrence M. |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199572120.013.0011}}</ref> The concept has become important in criticism of [verificationism](/source/verificationism) and has also found use in [legal philosophy](/source/legal_philosophy).

In legal philosophy, open texture reinforces the notion that vagueness is an inevitable feature of legal languages.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Legal Method and the Rule of Law|last=Urbina|first=Sebastián|date=2002|publisher=Kluwer Law International|isbn=9041118705|location=The Hague|pages=81}}</ref> Legal philosophers who subscribe to Waismann's view believe that such "vagueness" solves the conceptual confusions of ordinary language.<ref name=":1" /> According to [H. L. A. Hart](/source/H._L._A._Hart), for instance, language in legal rules has open texture and that recognizing this view would lead to better policy outcomes.<ref name=":0" />  Another interpretation also cited that open texture is closely related to the concept of "unforeseen contingencies" in the economic field.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Vagueness: A Guide|last=Ronzitti|first=Giuseppina|date=2011|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789400703742|location=Dordrecht|pages=129}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [Schauer, Frederick](/source/Frederick_Schauer), [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1926855 "On the Open Texture of Law"] (September 13, 2011). [SSRN](/source/Social_Science_Research_Network) [preprint](/source/preprint), published version in ''[Grazer Philosophische Studien](/source/Grazer_Philosophische_Studien)'', ''87''(1), 197-215. {{Doi|10.1163/9789401210119_013}}

Category:Empiricism
Category:Logical positivism
Category:Concepts in the philosophy of language

{{philosophy-stub}}

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