On Law and Justice

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Abstract
This book is a classic work of twentieth-century legal philosophy. The first translation into English was notably poor and misrepresented the views expressed in the text. Translated from scratch from the original Danish, this new critical edition casts light on the work and resituates it firmly in the context of current debates in the field. In recent years, Alf Ross (1899–1979) has attracted increasing attention. In H. L. A. Hart’s words, he was ‘the most acute and best-equipped philosopher’ of Scandinavian legal realism. This book provides a comprehensive outline of Ross’s legal realist position, outlining a consistently empirical research programme that simultaneously recognizes the distinctly normative character of law. On the basis of a sophisticated analysis of the concept ‘scientifically valid law’, Ross’s legal realism avoids the standard critiques against behaviourist reductionism while still remaining categorically distinct from legal positivism and natural law.

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