Meta-theory of Law

This book is devoted to the theory of legal theory, also referred to as the "meta-theory of law".

The aim of this emerging discipline is to determine the objectives, aims and methods of legal theory, and to establish the conditions of possibility as well as the validity criteria for theoretical discourse on law. The contributions in this book provide an overview of these aspects through different perspectives and approaches.

The very purpose of legal theory has been disputed and the subject area is currently subject to increasing cross-fertilization between different, and sometimes diverging, traditions. Meta-theory of Law assesses these emerging trends by questioning two basic objects of legal theory, the "nature" and the "science" of law.

Mathieu Carpentier is Professor of Public Law at the University of Toulouse and the Director of the Institut Maurice Hauriou in France. His research focuses mainly on legal philosophy and constitutional law.

Part 1. Legal Theory Methods
1. Methodology in Legal Philosophy, Julie Dickson.
2. The Methodology of Analytic Jurisprudence, Pierluigi Chiossoni.
3. Methodology for Theorizing About the Nature of Law and About Doctrinal Areas of Law, Brian H. Bix.
4. Empirical Complexity as a Conceptual Claim: Reappraising Hart's Account of Law as a Complex Social Practice, Gregory Bligh.
5. Authoritative Disagreement: Meta-Legal Theory and the Semantics of Adjudication, Andrej Kristan and Giulia Pravato.
6. Jeremy Waldron, the Legitimacy of Judicial Review and Political Theory, Charles-Maxime Panaccio.

Part 2. Legal Science Theories
7. Metatheory of an (Empirical) Legal Science, Eric Millard.
8. Legal and Social Sciences: What are the Links?, Véronique Champeil-Desplats.
9. A Hermeneutic Reading of Law and Legal Theory: Regarding Paul Ricoeur, Xavier Bioy and Thomas Escach-Dubourg.
10. Legal Science According to the Pure Theory of Law, Thomas Hochmann.
11. Axiological Neutrality, Oppositional Thinking and Knowledge, Jean-Baptiste Pointel.
12. Legal Science and Its Roles in Legal Reasoning, Fabio Perin Shecaira.
13. Inference to the Best Explanation in Legal Science; on Balancing Contrastive Hypotheses, David Duarte.