Introduction: The Province of Analytical Legal Science Determined
The notion of “legal science” overlaps, at least in part, with those of “legal dogmatics,” “legal knowledge,” “legal theory,” “legal methodology,” and “jurisprudence.” Furthermore, the expression “legal science” itself suffers from ambiguities (Peczenick 2005, 1–3; Chiassoni 2013, 152–153).
First, “legal science” is affected by the process/product ambiguity. It may denote, on the one hand, the propositions which lawyers derive from certain strings of symbols (the texts) – in this sense, it denotes legal propositions, or, simply, “the law” – and, on the other hand, the processes of the derivation of these propositions, the processes whereby the propositions are obtained; in other words, it “can be used both to refer to the set of activities performed by the person who studies the law and to the result of such activities” (Núñez Vaquero 2013, 56). This ambiguity is further complicated by the fact that, since it is hard to...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Notes
- 1.
According to legal realism “valid” coincides with “binding” and “efficacious.” Instead, according to other conceptions “valid” means “belonging to the system” (normativism), or “according to justice” (natural law theories).
References
Barberis M (2013) Genoa’ realism: a guide for the perplexed. Revista brasileira de filosofia 240:13–25
Bobbio N (1961; 19962) Il positivismo giuridico. Lezioni di filosofia del diritto raccolte dal dott. N. Morra, Giappichelli, Torino
Bobbio N (1972) Giusnaturalismo e positivismo giuridico. Edizioni di Comunità, Milano
Bobbio N (1997) The science of law and the analysis of language. In Jori M, Pintore A (eds) (1997), 21–51
Campbell TD (1996) The legal theory of ethical positivism. Dartmouth Publishing, Aldershot
Campbell TD (2004) Prescriptive legal positivism: law, rights and democracy. UCL Press, London
Chiassoni P (2013) Wiener realism. In: Duarte D’AL, Gardner J, Green L (eds) Kelsen revisited. New essays in the pure theory of law. Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland, pp 131–162
Dummett M (1978) Truth and other enigmas. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA)
Dworkin R (1977; 19782) Taking rights seriously. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA)
Dworkin R (1986) Law’s empire. Fontana Press, London
Dworkin R (2006) Justice in robes. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA)
Dworkin R (2011) Justice for hedgehogs. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA)
Endicott TAO (1997) Vagueness and legal theory. Legal Theory 3:37–63
Guastini R (1998) Normativism or the normative theory of legal science: some epistemological problems. In: Paulson SL, Litschewski Paulson B (eds) Normativity and norms. Critical perspectives on Kelsenian themes. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 317–330
Guest S (2013) Ronald Dworkin, 3rd edn. Stanford University Press, Stanford
Hart HLA (1994 [or. ed. 1961]) The concept of law, 2nd edn. With a Postscript edited by P. A. Bulloch and J. Raz, Clarendon Press, Oxford
Holtermann J. v. H (2014) Naturalizing Alf Ross’s legal realism. Philo Reconstruct Revus 24:165–186
Jori M (1990) Paradigms of legal science. Rivista internazionale di filosofia del diritto 2:230–254
Kress KJ (1987) The interpretive turn. Ethics 97(4):834–860
Leiter B (2007) Naturalizing Jurisprudence. University Press, Oxford
MacCormick N (1978; 19942). Legal reasoning and legal theory. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Mackie J (1977) The third theory of law. Philos Public Aff 7:132–144
Núñez VA (2013) Five models of legal sciences. Revus 19: 53–81
Peczenik A (2005) Scientia Iuris. Legal Doctrine as knowledge of law and as source of law, Springer, Dordrecht
Pintore A. (1997) Introduction. In Jori M., Pintore A. (eds.) Law and language. The Italian Analytical School. D. Charles Pub., Liverpool, 1–19
Postema GJ (1987) “Protestant” interpretation and social practices. Law Philos 6:283–319
Raz J (1995) Ethics in the public domain. Essays in the morality of law and politics (Revised Edition), Clarendon Press, Oxford
Raz J (1996) Intention in interpretation. In: George RP (ed) The autonomy of law. Essays on legal positivism. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 249–286
Redondo MC (2015) The many faces of legal positivism. Ragion Pratica 44:201–212
Ross A (1957) Tû-Tû. Harvard LR 5:812–825
Ross A (1958) On law and justice. Stevens & Sons Limited, London
Ross A (1962) Review of the concept of law by H.L.A. Hart Yale LJ 71:1185–1190
Scarpelli U (1987) Dalla legge al codice, dal codice ai principi. Rivista di filosofia 78(1):3–15
Shiner RA (1992a) Norm and nature. The movements of legal thought. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Shiner RA (1992b) The acceptance of a legal system. In: Patterson DM (ed) Wittgenstein and legal theory. Westview Press, Oxford, pp 59–84
Villa V (1984) Legal science between natural and human sciences. Leg Stud 4(3):243–270
Waldron J (2001) Normative (or ethical) positivism. In: Coleman JL (ed) Hart’s postscript: essays on the postscript to the concept of law. University Press, Oxford, pp 411–433
Waldron J (2013) Ronald Dworkin: an appreciation. NYU school of law, public law research paper 13–39: SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2276009 or https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2276009
Wright von GH (1971) Explanation and understanding. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Schiavello, A. (2023). Legal Science: Analytical Conceptions. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_358-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_358-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6730-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6730-0
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences