Abstract
The author reflects on the common understanding of the methodological foundations of the psychological theory of law as grounded in philosophical positivism. Furthermore, Petrażycki’s legal and methodological investigations are interpreted in the context of the analytical-phenomenological tradition associated with such thinkers as Frege, Brentano, and Meinong. Special attention is paid to the comparison of the epistemological ideas of Petrażycki and the analytical phenomenology of Husserl, as presented in his Logical Investigations. The author identifies the numerous similarities between the logical and methodological ideas of Petrażycki and the analytical-phenomenological tradition in general philosophy, especially the analytical phenomenology of Husserl (inter alia, the intensional concept of class, or the thesis of the incommensurability of theoretical and empirical knowledge). The result of this comparison is the conclusion that Petrażycki found in Husserl’s Logical Investigations the ideas, which to a great extent correspond to the ontological assumptions of his theory of law. In the last part of the chapter, the ideas of Petrażycki’s disciples—who tried to develop his theory of law in the phenomenological direction—are discussed.
Translation by Edoardo Fittipaldi.
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Notes
- 1.
The similarity of this Petrażyckian position to Karl Popper’s hypothetical-deductive method of scientific method was pointed out by Woleński (1969, 164). Also, Edoardo Fittipaldi holds that induction for Petrażycki is exclusively a method for testing theoretical knowledge and, based on that, he seems to regard Petrażycki as a forerunner of Karl Popper’s and Hans Albert’s critical rationalism (see Fittipaldi’s essay in this compilation). More generally, according to Fittipaldi (2016), if American legal realism is more compatible with—and historically stems from—the pragmati(ci)st epistemology inaugurated by Charles S. Peirce, and legal positivism is more compatible with logical positivism and analytical philosophy, both the Hägeströmian and Petrażyckian legal realisms—that Fittipaldi refers to with the term Continental legal realism—are more compatible with Popper’s and Albert’s critical rationalism. For more detail on the similarities between Petrażycki’s conception of scientific knowledge and Popper’s evolutionary epistemology and hypothetical-deductive model of scientific knowledge, see Timoshina (2012, 20–42, 165–176).
- 2.
On further similarities and arguments, see Timoshina (2012, 177–203).
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Timoshina, E. (2018). The Logical and Methodological Foundations of the Theory of Law of Leon Petrażycki in the Context of the Analytical-Phenomenological Tradition. In: Brożek, B., Stanek, J., Stelmach, J. (eds) Russian Legal Realism. Law and Philosophy Library, vol 125. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98821-4_6
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