David Souter: INTP

[Architect]

I've long felt David Souter was a likely INTP. Intensely private, he never married and still lives on the farm he inherited from his parents. He famously avoided every public event he could, such as presidential inauguration ceremonies. He even looks like an ectomorphic INTP

David Souter Gets Rock Star Welcome, Offers Constitution Day Warning

the hearty clapping continued for another full minute and more. The intensely private Souter, who hasn't made any extended public remarks in his state since retiring three years ago, looked abashed at first -- then beamed. "Thank you, thank you," he said.

Here's the idea that pulled him out of his reticent retirement

It's an argument that Souter returned to time and again, that the meaning of the Constitution is found not only in its literal words or concepts, but in how they apply to Americans of the current era. "What we learned from Brown is that the facts can include the meaning of facts as people experience them, as long as we have the eyes to see that," he said. "And our capacity to see that changes over time."

This argument wasn't entirely new. Souter laid it out in a commencement speech at Harvard in 2010. In that same speech two years ago, he argued -- as he did again Friday -- that the Court often has to decide between two "legally Constitutionally recognized values that can be in conflict with each other. They both can't win all the time. The paradigm examples are the guarantees of liberty and equality."

His thinking is relativistic. The conservative members of the court (SJ types undoubtably) advocate a strict literal interpretation of the Constitution. He advocates that meaning and interpretation of the Constitution as changing as people change (Ti-Ne kind of thinking).

 

[pjoa09]

"According to Jeffrey Toobin's 2007 book The Nine, Souter has a decidedly low-tech lifestyle: He writes with a fountain pen, does not use e-mail, and has no cell phone or answering machine. While he was serving on the Supreme Court, he preferred to drive back to New Hampshire for the summer where he enjoyed mountain climbing.[5] Souter also has done his own home repairs.[35]" - wiki

That part is sort of ISTJ-ish.

You know, refusing to make his job easier.

 

[Architect]

"According to Jeffrey Toobin's 2007 book The Nine, Souter has a decidedly low-tech lifestyle: He writes with a fountain pen, does not use e-mail, and has no cell phone or answering machine. While he was serving on the Supreme Court, he preferred to drive back to New Hampshire for the summer where he enjoyed mountain climbing.[5] Souter also has done his own home repairs.[35]" - wiki

That part is sort of ISTJ-ish.

You know, refusing to make his job easier.

I don't think so, it sounds like self reliance (doing his own repairs) and having an idealism (no tech). I've known a lot of ISTJ's and none of them were offbeat. Thanks for the catch though, I'll go check the WIKI article.

 

[Analyzer]

"According to Jeffrey Toobin's 2007 book The Nine, Souter has a decidedly low-tech lifestyle: He writes with a fountain pen, does not use e-mail, and has no cell phone or answering machine. While he was serving on the Supreme Court, he preferred to drive back to New Hampshire for the summer where he enjoyed mountain climbing.[5] Souter also has done his own home repairs.[35]" - wiki

That part is sort of ISTJ-ish.

You know, refusing to make his job easier.

I would say ISTJ as well. From looking at the picture he looked like an ESTJ I know.

The nature of his job(Si) and lifestyle as well as him being a loose constructionist, implies feeding to his inferior Ne.