'Sociology of Law:' One View from the Lawyer's Side of the Fence
26 Pages Posted: 17 Dec 2010
Date Written: 1976
Abstract
An important addition to the literature of sociological jurisprudence/sociology of law has been provided by an anthology assembled by sociologists Donald Black and Maureen Mileski. They examine law from the perspective of a strict "positivistic" sociology of law and use this perspective to organize the readings in terms of basic theoretical propositions. Black and Mileski believe that such propositions can be used to order the complex area of "law and society" and make predictions about the role of law in society. This Article critically examines the Black and Mileski position relating to its "positivistic" definitions of law and the "scientific" study of law and its theoretical propositions concerning law and their relation to various aspects of social life. This analysis examines the strengths and weaknesses of the Black and Mileski approach, and the problems inherent in developing a "scientific" study of law and society. This Article, therefore, attempts to go beyond Black and Mileski in the development of a more general perspective concerning scientific approaches to jurisprudence.
Keywords: Hart, H.L.A. Hart, Dworkin, Ronald Dworkin, Fuller, Lon Fuller, jurisprudence, legal theory, concept of law
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