Luka Burazin (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law) has posted Is 'Naturalised' Methodology in Legal Theory Helpful? (CEE Forum Yearbook: Reconsidering Democracy: (New) Theories, Policies and Social Practices, Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2013) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
-
According to the predominant methodology of legal theory, the concept of law is primarily determined on the basis of the a priori conceptual analysis and the intuitions of the theorist expounding his theory of law. In contrast, B. Leiter's latest proposal for a “naturalised“ legal theory amounts to the view that legal theory should be grounded in empirical research, which then enables the a posteriori conceptual analysis of the concept of law. 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.