Relative Autonomy, A Characterisation of the Discipline of Law

Abstract

Thinking about the importance of interdisciplinary research for legal scholarship immediately raises the question of legal scholarship’s disciplinarity. What are the defining characteristics of the academic discipline of law?

The basic descriptive claim of this paper is that the specific character of legal scholarship has developed out of two sources – its relationship both to legal practice and to the humanities – but is now under strain primarily because of the growing importance of a social science approach to law. The methodology of law, based on hermeneutics, and the internal perspective of legal researchers, in dialogue with legal practitioners, need to be adapted to respond to these challenges. The aim of this paper is to identify ways in which legal scholarship can maintain its distinctive perspective but acknowledge the importance of interdisciplinary connections.

Keywords: legal methodology, legal scholarship, legal science, interdisciplinarity

JEL Classification: K1