The Legislative Notion of Consumer: A Legal Philosophical Contribution

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to propose a legal-philosophical argument regarding the interpretation of an important legislative definition of consumer in the Italian legal system. After a description of the main interpretations of this definition, it will be claimed that the interpretation to be preferred is the one that guarantees a stronger connection between the meaning ascribed to the legislative definition and the main meaning that the defined term has in ordinary language. The reason for this preference is to be found in the preservation of the connection between legal language and ordinary language, which is necessary for a legal system to work well.