In another essay he casts a distrustful eye to learned commentaries — in his view, they often obscure
the plain meaning of the text as they explore the linguistic and historical context of a passage.
Somehow Angus seems more honest than all those divines who tried to explain away
the plain meaning of the text.
They must thus seek to understand
the plain meaning of the text, but that meaning can not be fully grasped apart from metaphysical clarification.
Once a person begins to understand this, they see that «
the plain meaning of the text» is a myth.
Most analysis starts at
the plain meaning of the text, and only if the plain meaning is ambiguous or unreasonable does analysis start to look for other signals like intent of the legislature / founders, etc..
The oath was unsuccessfully challenged last year in McAteer v. Canada (Attorney General), where several applicants claimed
the plain meaning of this text meant they were swearing an oath in their personal capacity.
These include the enormity of the discretion available to our top judges, the wildly varying degree to which some things matter, or don't, seemingly on a whim — like
the plain meaning of the text, established precedent, and framer's intent — and how politics can explain why the Court can be pathologically timid while somehow simultaneously rendering an unpopular decision.