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Is the concept of law an essentially contested concept?

Dr Adam Dyrda

Jagiellonian University

English abstract: Some legal thinkers (R. Dworkin amongst them) suppose that the concept of law is an essentially contested concept. This article firstly introduces the idea of essentially contested concepts, developed by W.B. Gallie. Secondly, it is argued that the concept of law cannot be perceived as an essentially contested concept, though some related concepts (such as “the rule of law”, according to J. Waldron’s analysis) can. Finally, I propose some arguments, in which I partly follow K. Ehrenberg’s recent analysis, showing that in Dworkinean terms, calling law an essentially contested concept may raise doubts and controversy.

Keywords: contestation, concept, conception, essentially contested concepts

Language: Polish

Published: Number 1(6)/2013, pp. 54-67.

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: concept, conception, contestation, essentially contested concepts

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Keywords

analytical legal theory aretaic theory Konrad Kobyliński state neutrality scientific capital theory of justice methodology of legal sciences comparative law equalisation of opportunities crisis of autonomy of law Information civilization neopragmatism linguistic corpora retrospectivity history of the profession of legal advisor dynamic interpretation legal practice judicial practice Anna Tomza shell of legal culture a contrario Bruce Ackerman Hohfeldian incidents public interest pluralism liquid modernity Benjamin Constant digital clone Michał Araszkiewicz conception social consciousness juridification of the memory specificity of bioethics lay judges politics Artur Kozak cultural defense identification of procedural acts Paul Ricoeur cultural pluralism discretion Marcin Pieniążek legal community extraordinary appeal interpellation discourse legal realism Constitution human being animal rights

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