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As Law Goes By: Topology, Ontology, Evolution

  • Conference paper
AI Approaches to the Complexity of Legal Systems. Complex Systems, the Semantic Web, Ontologies, Argumentation, and Dialogue (AICOL 2009)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 6237))

Abstract

The paper deals with Hayek’s classical distinction between cosmos and taxis, i.e., evolution vs. constructivism, spontaneous orders vs. human (political) planning. Recent empirical evidence confirms that the informational complexity of the law is not reducible to taxis alone and, furthermore, orders spontaneously emerge from the complexity of the environment through specific laws of evolution. Whereas, most of the time, today’s research on AI & Law focuses on the taxis-side of the law, my aim is to illustrate the informational nature of complex social systems via a theory of spontaneous orders and an evolutionary theory of complex social networks. By distinguishing three levels of analysis, namely information as reality, for reality, and on reality, a topological approach shows how information is produced and distributed in current legal systems, how it is possible to harness these properties and obtain useful applications in the legal domain, while shedding further light on some aspects of current AI research.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Law School, University of Torino, via s. Ottavio 54, 10124, Torino, Italy

    Ugo Pagallo

Authors
  1. Ugo Pagallo
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Law and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Pompeu Casanovas

  2. Torino Law School, University of Torino, via s. Ottavio 20, 10124, Torino, Italy

    Ugo Pagallo  & Gianmaria Ajani  & 

  3. Institute Badia Fiesolana, European University, 50016, San Domenico di Fiesole, Florence, Italy

    Giovanni Sartor

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Pagallo, U. (2010). As Law Goes By: Topology, Ontology, Evolution. In: Casanovas, P., Pagallo, U., Sartor, G., Ajani, G. (eds) AI Approaches to the Complexity of Legal Systems. Complex Systems, the Semantic Web, Ontologies, Argumentation, and Dialogue. AICOL 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6237. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16524-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16524-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-16523-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-16524-5

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