单选题
VI.(Jurisprudence)
AmericanLegalRealismwasthemostimportantindigenousjurisprudentialmovementintheUnitedStatesduringthe20th-century,havingaprofoundimpactnotonlyonAmericanlegaleducationandscholarship,butalsoonlawreformandlawyering.UnlikeitsScandinaviancousin,AmericanLegalRealismwasnotprimarilyanextensiontolawofsubstantivephilosophicaldoctrinesfromsemanticsandepistemology.TheRealistswerelawyers(plusafewsocialscientists),notphilosophers,andtheirmotivationswere,accordingly,different.Aslawyers,theywerereachingagainstthedominant―mechanicaljurisprudence‖or―formalism‖oftheirday.―Formalism‖inthesensepertinenthere,heldthatjudgesdecidecasesonthebasisofdistinctivelylegalrulesandreasons,whichjustifyauniqueresultinmostcases(perhapseverycase).TheRealistsargued,instead,thatcarefulempiricalconsiderationofhowcourtsreallydecidecasesrevealsthattheydecidenotprimarilybecauseoflaw,butbased(roughlyspeaking)ontheirsenseofwhatwouldbe―fair‖onthefactsofthecase.Legalrulesandreasonsfiguresimplyaspost-hocrationalizationsfordecisionsreachedonthebasisofnon-legalconsiderations.BecausetheRealistsnevermadeexplicittheirphilosophicalpresuppositionsaboutthenatureoflawortheirconceptionoflegaltheory,oneoftheimportantjurisprudentialtasksforRealiststodayisaphilosophicalreconstructionanddefenseoftheseviews,especiallyagainstthecriticismsoflegalphilosophers,notablyH.L.A.Hart.
ButRealismalsoborethemarksofanintellectualculturewhichitdidsharewithitsScandinaviancousin.Thisculture–thedominantoneintheWesternworldfromthemid-19thcenturythroughatleastthemiddleofthelastcentury–wasdeeply―positivistic,‖inthesensethatitviewsnaturalscienceastheparadigmofallgenuineknowledge,andthoughtallotherdisciplines(fromsocialsciencetolegalstudy)shouldemulatethemethodsofnaturalscience.Chiefamongthelatterwasthemethodofempiricaltesting:hypotheseshadtobetestedagainstobservationsoftheworld.ThustheRealistsfrequentlyclaimedthatexistingarticulationsofthe―law‖werenot,infact,―confirmed‖byactualobservationofwhatthecourtwerereallydoing.AlsoinfluentialonsomeRealistswasbehaviorisminpsychology–JohnWatson‘sversion,notthelater,andbetter-known,brandassociatedwithB.F.Skinner–whichwasitselfinthegripsofa―positivistic‖conceptionofknowledgeandmethod.
BrianLeiter:AmericanLegalRealism
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AmericanLegalRealismhadaprofoundimpactontheflowingbut
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Fromthe1stparagraphwecanknowthatScandinavianRealists
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TheAmericanRealistsarguedthat
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WhatistheintellectualculturethatAmericanRealismshareswithitsScandinaviancousin?