Is 'Naturalised' Methodology in Legal Theory Helpful?

CEE Forum Yearbook: Reconsidering Democracy: (New) Theories, Policies and Social Practices, Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2013

18 Pages Posted: 13 Dec 2012 Last revised: 6 Jan 2013

See all articles by Luka Burazin

Luka Burazin

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2012

Abstract

With regard to the methodology for determining the subject-matter of legal theory, there are two strands of thought. According to the first and the predominant one, the subject-matter of legal theory is primarily determined on the basis of the a priori conceptual analysis and the intuitions of the theorist expounding his theory of law. In doing so, the legal theorist uses introspection and leans on his own intuitions about the possible samples of law which he then takes as the basis for determining the essential features of law. The second strand is B. Leiter's proposal for the so-called "naturalised" legal theory. Following Quine's understanding of epistemology, Leiter subjects the method of the a priori conceptual analysis and the role of intuitions in legal theory to criticism, holding that legal theory should be grounded in empirical research, which then enables the a posteriori conceptual analysis of the concept of law. In view of the fact that law is a concept "people use to understand themselves", Leiter suggests that the introspections and intuitions of legal theorists be replaced with empirical research into the views of those subject to law, i.e. with the ordinary people's views about law. Such "folk" view would represent the so-called internal point of view in its widest sense – the point of view of all the addressees of legal norms in a legal system who recognise these norms as the reasons for their actions. This "naturalised" methodological approach to legal theory raises the question of whether empirical research can be practically useful in the construction of a theory of law.

Keywords: conceptual analysis, methodological naturalism, intuitions, methodology, legal theory, Leiter

Suggested Citation

Burazin, Luka, Is 'Naturalised' Methodology in Legal Theory Helpful? (2012). CEE Forum Yearbook: Reconsidering Democracy: (New) Theories, Policies and Social Practices, Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2013 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2189068

Luka Burazin (Contact Author)

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law ( email )

Trg Republike Hrvatske 14
Zagreb, 10000
Croatia

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