Objectivity in Law

the question of objectivity in legal interpretation has emerged in recent years as an imprtant topic in contemporary jurisprudence. This book addresses the issue of how and in what sense legal interpretation can be objective. The author supports the possibility of objectivity in law and spells out the content of objectivity involved. He then provides a defence against the classical as well as less well-known objections to the possibility of objectivity in legal interpretation. The discussion is thoroughly grounded in metaphysics which sets the book apart from other similar discussions in jurisprudence. Stavropoulos identifies an important source of resistance to the acceptance of the possibility of objectivity in legal interpretation; a widely held but faulty semantic. He then develops an alternative semantic framework drawing on influential theories in contemporary philosophy. The book shows that objectivism is a natural common sensical position and rejects the currently popular notion that objectivism requires extravagant or bizarre metaphysics. Furthermore the discussion presents the opportunity to re-interpret major debates in jurisprudence and to show how influential theories notably H.L.A. Hart's and Ronald Dworkin's bear on that issue.

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• ISBN Objectivity in Law book 228 pages