Archiwum
Filozofii Prawa
i Filozofii Społecznej

Journal of the Polish Section of IVR (ISSN:2082-3304)

IVR
  • General info
  • Aim & scope
  • News
  • Issues
    • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
  • Editorial board
    • Board Members
    • Reviewers
  • For authors / Ethics
  • Contact
  • Polski

Systems Theory and Puzzles of Legal Culture

Dr Jan Winczorek

University of Warsaw


English abstract: Legal culture is a concept as central to legal studies and sociology of law as difficult to define. It aims to serve important theoretical needs but it is also responsible for some puzzles that trouble legal and socio-legal scholars. Some of them are quite famous: the puzzle of the nature of Japanese litigiousness, the puzzle of differing German and Dutch legal cultures, or, recently, the issue of cultural defence. Some are lesser known, like the multitude of courts’ adjudicating strategies in Poland’s allegedly unitary legal culture. The paper argues that the problems of such nature are a conceptual artefact, a result of objectifying understanding of legal culture as a phenomenon. It is stressed that in such studies more weight should be put on the immediate, procesual nature of investigated phenomena. In order to support these claims, conceptual machinery of systems theory is utilised. First, a general view of N. Luhmann regarding the notion of culture is accepted and applied to the idea of legal culture. Further it is demonstrated how the aims served by the notion of legal culture can be achieved by appealing to such theoretical concepts as structural coupling, first- and second- order observation, and above all – temporal nature of social systems. A general conclusion of the paper is that in the study of “legal culture” an evolutionary perspective is unavoidable.

Keywords: Niklas Luhmann, Systems Theory, legal culture, structural coupling, first-order observation, second-order observation, temporal nature of social systems

Language: English

Published: Number 1(4)/2012, pp. 106-125.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2012.1.106

Download: Download
Number of Downloads:
95

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: first-order observation, legal culture, Niklas Luhmann, second-order observation, structural coupling, Systems Theory, temporal nature of social systems

Categories

  • Articles
  • Editorial
  • In Memoriam
  • News
  • Reports
  • Reviews and discussions

Keywords

Herbert Hart Slavoj Žižek embodied cognition political Bible emergency laws discrimination Carl Schmitt prototype theory general legal theories natural law metaphysical grounding theory of ideology court decisions contextualism international legal theory apoliticality rational application of law ombudsman institutions social interest Petera Fechtera case Michał Pawłowski conscientious exemptions legislative history the triad of causes public morality post-theology Bartosz Brożek antagonism cohesion nonpositivist concept of law Systems Theory Monika Zalewska ideology John M. Finnis Karolina Gmerek law of evidence ‘componential’ theory of values weighing the rightness professional roles of lawyer judicial election Paweł Łabieniec patents discourse political responsibility ethical justification Sławomir Tkacz Hans Kelsen Jakub Hanc subjectivity/structure

Copyright © 2021 Polska Sekcja Międzynarodowego Stowarzyszenia Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej IVR | Administrator strony: Dawid Milczarek

Ta strona używa plików cookies. Zakładamy, że wyrażają Państwo na to zgodę, ale mogą Państwo także wyłączyć pliki cookies w Ustawieniach. //
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. (Zob. więcej // Read more) Ustawienia // SettingsZGODA // ACCEPT

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.