Neutrality and Theory of Law

Can a theory of law be neutral? This book gathers a dozen important legal philosophers to discuss this question, the connection between law and morals, and the possibility of determining the content of law without appealing to any normative argument.

This book brings together twelve of the most important legal philosophers in the Anglo-American and Civil Law traditions. The book is a collection of the papers these philosophers presented at the Conference on Neutrality and Theory of Law, held at the University of Girona, in May 2010. The central question that the conference and this collection seek to answer is: Can a theory of law be neutral? The book covers most of the main jurisprudential debates. It presents an overall discussion of the connection between law and morals, and the possibility of determining the content of law without appealing to any normative argument. It examines the type of project currently being held by jurisprudential scholarship. It studies the different approaches to theorizing about the nature or concept of law, the role of conceptual analysis and the essential features of law. Moreover, it sheds some light on what can be learned from studying the non-essential features of law. Finally, it analyzes the nature of legal statements and their truth values. This book takes the reader a step further to understanding law.

Provides the most up-to-date views on methodological and substantive issues from some of the most important legal philosophers in the Anglo-American and European scholarship Offers a sophisticated, yet accessible discussion of Neutrality and Theory of Law Constitutes a unique collection of selected papers from the Conference Neutrality and Theory of Law at the University of Girona Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Contenu
Preface.- The Province of Jurisprudence Underdetermined; Juan Carlos Bayón.- Necessity, Importance, and the Nature of Law; Frederick Schauer.- Ideals, Practices, and Concepts in Legal Theory; Brian Bix.- Alexy Between Positivism and non-Positivism; Eugenio Bulygin.- The Architecture of Jurisprudence ; Jules Coleman.- Norms, Truth and Legal Statements; Jorge Rodríguez.- Juristenrecht. Inventing Rights, Obligations, and Powers; Riccardo Guastini.- The Demarcation Problem in Jurisprudence: A New Case for Skepticism; Brian Leiter.- Normative Legal Positivism, Neutrality, and the Rule of Law; Bruno Celano.- On the Neutrality of Charter Reasoning; Wilfrid Waluchow.- Between Positivism and Non-Positivism? A Third Reply to Eugenio Bulygin; Robert Alexy.- The Scientific Model of Jurisprudence; Dan Priel.- Jurisprudential Methodology: Is Pure Interpretation Possible?; Kevin Walton.