Free Republic

While this may surprise many, there is actually an old dispute between historians over the intentionality of the Holocaust. In academic circles, it is called the Intentionalism vs. Functionalism debate. Intentionalists simply argue the Nazis intended to annihilate the Jews all along consistent with their oft-repeated statements, and finally took seriously their plans to do so from 1938 onwards. Functionalists, on the other hand, strongly argue that in spite of the earlier violent shrills of Nazis rhetoric against the Jews, the Holocaust itself occurred in a rather ad hoc manner based largely on differing and evolving circumstances that became increasingly...

Whatever side of the Second Amendment controversy you may be on, the clear winner in District of Columbia v. Heller (striking down a Washington, D.C., ban on hand guns) was intentionalism, the thesis that a text means what its author or authors intend. The text in dispute is 27 words long, and it is cited in the opening pages of each of the three opinions: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” None of the words in this sentence is...