Essays on the Doctrinal Study of Law

Description

This book is a summary of the author’s 40 years of research in the fields of civil law and the philosophy of law. The main focus is on the two main tasks in the doctrinal study of law: the interpretation and systematisation of legal norms. In this regard, Professor Aarnio deals with the theory of argumentation as well as with its foundations - i.e., with the ontology, epistemology and methodology of legal thinking - and develops the ideas that were first presented in The Rational as Reasonable (Kluwer 1987) in all of these dimensions. The work includes an updated discussion on the writings of Robert Alexy, Jûrgen Habermas, Ronald Dworkin and Alf Ross. A focal point of view concerns the distinction between positivism and non-positivism, in which the core of the criticism focuses on Scandinavian realism. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Roman Heritage....Pages 3-7 Bonus Theoreticus, Malus Practicus?....Pages 9-17 What Is the Doctrinal Study of Law?....Pages 19-24 Front Matter....Pages 25-25 Lawyer’s Dilemma....Pages 27-30 On Language-Games....Pages 31-38 The Foundations of Knowledge....Pages 39-44 On the Ontology of Law....Pages 45-52 A Moral Point of View....Pages 53-63 The Three Notions of Liberty....Pages 65-70 Front Matter....Pages 71-71 What Is Science?....Pages 73-79 Legal Realism Reinterpreted....Pages 81-94 Outlines of the New Rhetoric....Pages 95-104 Scientific Inference – An Example....Pages 105-114 Front Matter....Pages 115-115 From the Constitutional State to the Welfare State....Pages 117-118 Two Types of Norms....Pages 119-124 The Formal Validity, Efficacy, and Acceptability of Legal Norms....Pages 125-130 The Procedure of Legal Reasoning....Pages 131-146 The Sources of Law....Pages 147-163 One Right Answer?....Pages 165-175 On the Systematisation....Pages 177-184 Front Matter....Pages 115-115 Change or Development?....Pages 185-199 Back Matter....Pages 201-222