Torben Spaak

Stockholm University

Professor of Jurisprudence

S-106 91 Stockholm

Sweden

SCHOLARLY PAPERS

50

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20,414

TOTAL CITATIONS
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SSRN RANKINGS

Top 24,250

in Total Papers Citations

18

Scholarly Papers (50)

1.

Kelsen and Hart on the Normativity of Law

PERSPECTIVES ON JURISPRUDENCE: ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF JES BJARUP, Peter Wahlgren, ed., pp. 397-414, 2005
Number of pages: 18 Posted: 08 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 2,024 (16,891)

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Kelsen, Hart, Normativity of Law

2.

Kelsen on Monism and Dualism

Marko Novakovic, ed., Basic Concepts of Public International Law: Monism & Dualism, 322-343. Belgrade: Alter DOO and Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Institute of Comparative Law.
Number of pages: 19 Posted: 12 Mar 2013 Last Revised: 06 Aug 2013
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 2,016 (17,010)

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Kelsen, monism, dualism, norm conflicts, epistemological postulate, solipsism, international law, state law

3.

Moral Relativism and Human Rights

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 13, 2007
Number of pages: 18 Posted: 09 Aug 2006 Last Revised: 03 Dec 2007
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 996 (48,686)

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moral relativism, human rights, tolerance

4.

Naturalism in Scandinavian and American Realism: Similarities and Differences

DE LEGE, UPPSALA-MINNESOTA COLLOQUIUM: LAW, CULTURE AND VALUES, Mattias Dahlberg, ed., pp. 33-83, Uppsala: Iustus förlag, 2009
Number of pages: 51 Posted: 06 Mar 2009 Last Revised: 08 Aug 2011
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 937 (53,016)

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Naturalism, Conceptual Analysis, Meta-Ethics, Binding Force, Scandinavian and American Legal Realism

5.

Karl Olivecrona's Legal Philosophy: A Critical Appraisal

Ratio Juris, 2011
Number of pages: 85 Posted: 16 Jun 2009 Last Revised: 26 May 2010
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 809 (64,702)

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Jurisprudence, Scandinavian Realism, Olivecrona, Hagerstrum, Naturalisn, Binding Force, Truth

6.

Meta-Ethics and Legal Theory: The Case of Gustav Radbruch

Law and Philosophy, Vol. 28, pp. 261-290, 2008
Number of pages: 38 Posted: 10 Aug 2006 Last Revised: 13 Jul 2009
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 726 (74,676)

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Radbruch, relativism, legal positivism, Radbruch formula

7.

Legal Positivism, Law's Normativity, and the Normative Force of Legal Justification

Ratio Juris, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 469-485, 2003
Number of pages: 17 Posted: 14 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 674 (82,040)
Citation 2

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Legal positivism, natural law theory, normativity of law, legal justification

8.

Relativism in Legal Thinking: Stanley Fish and the Concept of an Interpretive Community

Ratio Juris, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 157-171, 2008
Number of pages: 26 Posted: 10 Aug 2006 Last Revised: 13 Jul 2009
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 646 (86,611)

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Fish, interpretation, conceptual relativism, interpretive community

9.

Legal Positivism and the Objectivity of Law

Annalisi e Diritto, Vol. 253, pp. 253-267, 2004
Number of pages: 15 Posted: 19 Jul 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 628 (89,848)

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Legal positivism, Objectivity of Law, statutory interpretation, moral objectivity

10.

The Concept of Legal Competence

The IVR Encyclopeadia of Jurisprudence, Legal Theory, and Philosophy of Law, May 2005
Number of pages: 4 Posted: 10 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 622 (90,945)

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Competence, power, validity, legal positions

11.

Principled and Pragmatic Theories of Legal Reasoning

FESTSKRIFT TILL AKE FRANDBERG, Anders Fogelklou & Torben Spaak, eds., pp. 235-262, 2003
Number of pages: 28 Posted: 08 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 601 (95,016)

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Theories of legal reasoning

12.

Legal Positivism and the Claim to Correctness

Number of pages: 50 Posted: 13 Oct 2011
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 541 (108,401)

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13.

Relativism in the Philosophy of Law

Number of pages: 19 Posted: 04 Mar 2019
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 518 (114,414)

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Relativism, Kelsen, Radbruch, Tolerance, Leal Statements, Disagreement

14.

Alf Ross on the Concept of a Legal Right

Forthcoming in Ratio Juris 2013
Number of pages: 42 Posted: 10 Aug 2006 Last Revised: 20 May 2013
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 474 (127,290)

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Alf Ross, legal rights, connective concepts

15.

Legal Positivism, Anti-Realism, and the Interpretation of Statutes

LOGIC, LAW, MORALITY. THIRTEEN ESSAYS IN PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY IN HONOUR OF LENNART AQVIST, pp. 127-145, Krister Segerberg & Rysiek Sliwinski, eds., Uppsala University, 2003
Number of pages: 19 Posted: 11 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 447 (136,671)

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Legal positivism, anti-realism, statutory interpretation

16.

Fuzzifying the Natural Law-Legal Positivist Debate

Buffalo Law Review, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 85-119, 1995
Number of pages: 36 Posted: 16 Aug 2006
Edward S. Adams and Torben Spaak
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - School of Law and Stockholm University
Downloads 434 (141,452)
Citation 1

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Natural Law Theory, Legal Positivism, Fuzzy Logic

17.

Legal Positivism, Conventionalism, and the Normativity of Law

Number of pages: 52 Posted: 02 Jun 2017
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 397 (156,663)
Citation 2

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Legal positivism, conventionalism, normativity, Kelsen, Postema, Marmor, basic norm, detached statements, coordination convention, constitutive convention, conditional normativity

18.

Naturalism and Non-Naturalism in Legal Philosophy: Hägerström on Kelsen

AXEL HAGERSTROM AND MODERN SOCIAL THOUGHT, Sven Eliaeson, Patricia Mindus, Stephen Turner, eds., Oxford: The Bardwell Press, Forthcoming
Number of pages: 16 Posted: 24 Sep 2012 Last Revised: 31 May 2013
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 371 (169,525)

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naturalism, non-naturalism, Hägerström, Scandinavian legal realism, Kelsen, Popper, legal conventionalism

19.

Realism about the Nature of Law

Forthcoming in Ratio Juris 2015
Number of pages: 32 Posted: 16 Nov 2012 Last Revised: 22 Jan 2015
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 357 (176,287)

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Scandinavian legal realism, legal positivism, norms, naturalism, non-cognitivism, conventionalism, sources of law, Ross, Olivecrona, Lundstedt, Hägerström, Kelsen, the basic norm, the World of the Ought, jurisprudential dualism

20.

Book Review: Brian Leiter, Naturalizing Jurisprudence

Theoria, Vol. 74, No. 4, pp. 352-62, 2008
Number of pages: 10 Posted: 04 Jun 2008 Last Revised: 13 Jul 2009
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 356 (176,784)

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Naturalism, Conceptual Analysis, American Realism, Scandinavian Realism

21.

Guidance and Constraint: the Action-Guiding Capacity of Neil Maccormick's Theory of Legal Reasoning

Law and Philosophy, Vol. 26, pp. 343-76, 2007
Number of pages: 34 Posted: 14 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 352 (179,009)
Citation 2

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MacCormick, legal reasoning, action-guiding capacity

22.

Moral Relativism and the Rechtsstaat

FESTSCHRIFT FOR ANDERS FOGELKLOU, Åke Frändberg, Stefan Hedlund, Torben Spaak, eds., Uppsala: Iustus, pp. 219-233
Number of pages: 16 Posted: 10 Aug 2006 Last Revised: 13 Jul 2009
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 328 (193,262)

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Moral relativism, statutory interpretation, the Rechtsstaat

23.

Legal Philosophy and the Study of Legal Reasoning

Number of pages: 16 Posted: 01 Dec 2021
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 326 (194,526)
Citation 1

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legal philosophy, legal reasoning, reasons holism, legal statements, deducrive reasoning, inductive reasoning

24.

Explicating the Concept of Legal Competence

Concepts in the Law, 2008
Number of pages: 13 Posted: 17 Sep 2007 Last Revised: 25 Mar 2008
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 321 (197,728)
Citation 2

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legal competence, legal power, concept, explication, rational reconstruction, validity

25.

Robert Alexy and the Dual Nature of Law

Number of pages: 32 Posted: 09 Apr 2019
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 320 (198,385)
Citation 1

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Alexy, dual nature of law, claim to correctness, discourse theory, legal positivism, explication, deontic logic

26.

The Scope of Legal Positivism: Validity or Interpretation?

Number of pages: 30 Posted: 07 Aug 2019
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 314 (202,439)
Citation 2

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legal positivism, sources of law, validity, interpretation, theoretical disagreement, Stanley Fish

27.

The Idea of a Right to Genetic Privacy

Juridisk tidskrift, pp. 326-339, 2008-09
Number of pages: 24 Posted: 10 Aug 2006 Last Revised: 13 Feb 2014
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 275 (232,632)

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right to privacy, right to liberty, public-private distinction

28.

Animal Law: Human Duties or Animal Rights?

Number of pages: 46 Posted: 19 Nov 2020
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 245 (262,483)
Citation 1

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Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Concepts, Explication, Legal Statements, Will-Theory, Interest-Theory, Hohfeld-Elements, Hart, Wellman, MacCormick

29.

The Problem About the Nature of Law

FESTSCHRIFT FOR ERIK CARLSSON, Frans Svensson and Rysiek Sliwinski, eds., Uppsala: Uppsala University, Department of Philosophy, Forthcoming
Number of pages: 24 Posted: 01 Mar 2011 Last Revised: 30 Aug 2011
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 230 (277,978)

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30.

Karl Olivecrona on Judicial Law-Making

Ratio Juris, Vol. 22, No. 3, 2009
Number of pages: 12 Posted: 17 Mar 2008 Last Revised: 18 Jun 2013
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 219 (291,375)

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Scandinavian Realism, Karl Olivecrona, Evaluations, Conventions, Judicial Law-Making

31.

Legal Realism and Functional Kinds: Michael Moore's Metaphysically Reductionist Naturalism

Number of pages: 67 Posted: 30 Jan 2018
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 217 (293,895)
Citation 1

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32.

Sources of Law in Continental Analytical Jurisprudence

Forthcoming in L. Burazin, M.S. Green & G. Pino (eds.), Jurisprudence in the Mirror (Oxford University Press), Faculty of Law, Stockholm University Research Paper No. 113
Number of pages: 32 Posted: 06 Apr 2022 Last Revised: 15 Nov 2023
Torben Spaak and Mathieu Carpentier
Stockholm University and Universite de Toulouse 1 Capitole
Downloads 213 (299,123)

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sources of law, legal philosophy; general jurisprudence; Continental analytical jurisprudence; Hans Kelsen; Alf Ross; legislation; precedent; custom;

33.

(Review of) Legal Theory (Peter Wahlgren Ed. 2000)

Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie, Vol. 88, No. 2, pp. 298-304, 2002
Number of pages: 8 Posted: 16 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 211 (301,776)

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Hägerström, non-cognitivism, Scandinavian Legal Realism

34.

Reasons Holism and the Shared View of Precedent

Faculty of Law, Stockholm University Research Paper No. 118
Number of pages: 26 Posted: 06 Apr 2022 Last Revised: 14 Feb 2023
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 186 (339,223)

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reasons holism, precedent, reasons for action, legal positivism, universalizability, supervenience

35.

Legal Argumentation and the Nature of Law

Faculty of Law, Stockholm University Research Paper No. 133
Number of pages: 28 Posted: 14 Dec 2023 Last Revised: 11 Apr 2024
Torben Spaak and Stockholm Law Submitter
Stockholm University and Stockholm University - Faculty of Law
Downloads 185 (340,956)

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legal argumentation, interpretation, application, functional kinds, Michael Moore, Joseph Raz, Robert Alexy, Alf Ross

36.

The Canberra Plan and the Nature of Law

Number of pages: 60 Posted: 28 Nov 2015
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 185 (340,956)

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37.

The Legal Philosophy of Ingemar Hedenius

A TREATISE OF LEGAL PHILOSOPHY AND GENERAL JURISPRUDENCE, Vol. 11.2, Enrico Pattaro, ed., Springer, 2009
Number of pages: 10 Posted: 07 Jul 2009 Last Revised: 18 Oct 2009
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 171 (365,648)

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Scandinavian realism, internal legal statements, predictive analysis, legal validity, ownership, performatives

38.

Review of Stefano Bertea and George Pavlakos, Eds., New Essays on the Normativity of Law (Hart Publishing, 2011)

Jurisprudence 2012/2013, Forthcoming
Number of pages: 11 Posted: 05 Jun 2012
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 165 (377,192)

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Normativity of Law, Legal Positivism, Kelsen, Shapiro, Marmor

39.

Karl Olivecrona on Legislation

Theory and Practice of Legislation 1: 59-76 (2013)
Number of pages: 14 Posted: 21 Sep 2012 Last Revised: 18 Jun 2013
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 155 (397,872)
Citation 1

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Scandinavian legal realism, Karl Olivecrona, naturalism, independent imperatives, binding force, revolution

40.

Kelsen’s Metaethics

Number of pages: 52 Posted: 14 Jan 2021
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 147 (417,797)

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Pure Thepry of Law, Kelsen, Metaethics, Relativism, Noncognitivism, Fictionalism, Theory of the Basic Norm, Detached Statements, Natural Law Theory, Deontic Logic

41.

Legal Realism and Legal Reasoning: A Quasi-Realist Approach

Number of pages: 41 Posted: 17 Jun 2019
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 146 (417,797)

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legal realism, legal reasoning, meta-ethics, quasi-realism, legal statements, normativity, Simon Blackburn, truth-trees

42.

Genetic Discrimination

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science, and Technology, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2006
Number of pages: 17 Posted: 23 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 142 (427,134)

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Genetic discrimination, "geneticism", formal justice, Rechtsstaat

43.

Consistency in Law

Faculty of Law, Stockholm University Research Paper No. 132
Number of pages: 43 Posted: 26 Apr 2023 Last Revised: 11 Apr 2024
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 137 (439,426)

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44.

Schauer's Anti-Essentialism

Number of pages: 61 Posted: 19 Dec 2014 Last Revised: 26 Jan 2015
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 130 (460,982)

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philosophical analysis, explication, ideal-type, anti-essentialism, coercion, family resemblance, cognitive science, Hart, Olivecrona

45.

Ross on the Dualism of Reality and Validity

Utopia y Praxis Latinoamericana 72: 41-66. 2015
Number of pages: 48 Posted: 18 Oct 2015 Last Revised: 12 May 2016
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 125 (472,397)
Citation 1

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46.

A Challenge to Bix's Interpretation of Kelsen and Hart's Views of the Normativity of Law

Revus Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law, 2019, DOI/0.4000/revus.4561
Number of pages: 9 Posted: 31 Jan 2019
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 108 (527,527)

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Brian Bix, Kelsen, Hart, Normativity, the Basic Norm, Detached Statements

47.

The Authoritative Intention Thesis

Faculty of Law, Stockholm University Research Paper No. 117
Number of pages: 22 Posted: 30 Jan 2022 Last Revised: 15 Nov 2023
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 102 (549,880)
Citation 1

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Raz, intention, legislation, authority, necessity, modal logic, nature of law

48.

The Evolution of Scandinavian Legal Realism

Wojciech Zaluski et al., eds., Handbook on Legal Evolution (Edward Elgar), Forthcoming
Number of pages: 30 Posted: 28 Dec 2022
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 92 (588,288)

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Scandinavian legal realism, normativity, rules, rights, emotivism, error theory, norms, norm-propositions

49.

Review of Noam Gur, Legal Directives and Practical Reasons

Number of pages: 24 Posted: 08 May 2020
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 65 (714,876)

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legal norms, practical reasons, reasons for action, exclusionary reasons, authority, Joseph Raz, dispositions, attitudes

50.

Robert Alexy's Legal Constitutivism

Number of pages: 29 Posted: 03 Feb 2024
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 28 (1,009,242)

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Other Papers (5)

Total Downloads: 922
1.

(Review of) Neil Maccormick, Rhetoric and the Rule of Law: A Theory of Legal Reasoning (2005)

Constitutional Commentary, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 121-137, 2006
Number of pages: 17 Posted: 24 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 568

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MacCormick, legal reasoning, rule of law, deduction, universalization, consequentialist arguments

2.

(Review of) Philip Soper, the Ethics of Deference

Theoria, Vol. 2, 2006
Number of pages: 10 Posted: 10 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 131

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natural law theory, legal positivism, nature of law, political obligation

3.

Book Review: Rex Martin, a System of Rights (1993)

THEORIA, Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 80-94, 1995
Number of pages: 10 Posted: 15 Aug 2006
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 95

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Rights, democracy, political authority, internal justification

4.

Book Review: Practical Reason in Law and Morality by Neil MacCormick

Ethics 120: 192-197 (2009)
Number of pages: 6 Posted: 27 Aug 2009 Last Revised: 23 Nov 2015
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 84

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Practical Reason, Moral Objectivity, Categorical Imperative, Natural Law, Legal Positivism, Reasons for Action

5.

Book Review: Ingvill Helland and Sören Koch, Eds., Nordic and Germanic Legal Methods

Nordicum-Mediterraneum 2016, Forthcoming
Number of pages: 8 Posted: 24 Feb 2016
Torben Spaak
Stockholm University
Downloads 44

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Legal reasoning, the legal method, legal culture, comparative law