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Abstract
This essay explores the nexus between material realities and legal arguments. By looking at the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century debates over the meaning of “necessity,” the author hopes to illuminate the ways that jurisprudential arguments were shaped by the vernacular and elite idioms that circulated in a wide variety of spheres. More specifically, the manuscript analyzes the claims that were advanced in the Godwin-Malthus debates that influenced the interpretations of English Poor Laws.