- Gödelâs Loophole, Capital University Law Review (ssrn.com)
The mathematician and philosopher Kurt Gödel reportedly discovered a deep logical contradiction in the US Constitution. What was it? In this paper, the author revisits the story of Gödelâs discovery and identifies one particular âdesign defectâ in the Constitution that qualifies as a âGödelianâ design defect. In summary, Gödelâs loophole is that the amendment procedures set forth in Article V self-apply to the constitutional statements in Article V themselves, including the entrenchment clauses in Article V. Furthermore, not only may Article V itself be amended, but it may also be amended in a downward direction (i.e., through an âanti-entrenchmentâ amendment making it easier to amend the Constitution). Lastly, the Gödelian problem of self-amendment or anti-entrenchment is unsolvable. In addition, the author identifies some ânon-Gödelianâ flaws or âdesign defectsâ in the Constitution and explains why most of these miscellaneous design defects are non-Gödelian or non-logical flaws.