May fashionable and just have something in common? – or a few words about „thick terms”, „thick concepts” and „thick properties”

Keywords: thick terms, thick concepts, thick properties, legal philosophy, law and language

Abstract: In the present article I explore two questions. First, what are the theoretical relations between thick terms, concepts and properties? I try to depict that the answer is dependent upon a choice of philosophical assumptions. Second, I explore what are the possible bonds between descriptive and evaluative components of thick expressions. I concentrate on the nature of the evaluative component and contrast the semantic and pragmatic approaches. Finally, I conclude that terms such as ‘legal’ are par excellence thick. Therefore, we should be aware of all the theoretical intricacies of the evaluative content when building a coherent theory of the legal realm.