Dworkin is inferring judges' attitude from the rhetoric ofjudicial opinions, and this is perilous, because judges are not always candid and also because they often are not self-aware. Even if judges are consistently and deliberately deceptive, this would not impair the soundness of the pragmatic explanation of judicial behavior.

XREF: Connects to the distinction between judicial rhetoric and actual behavioral explanation, echoing Posner's pragmatism versus Dworkin's interpretive theory of law.

Richard A. Posner, Richard A. Posner - What Ha…, loc. 120