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Subjectivity and Law's Fields of Enquiry*
Author(s) -
DONNELLY BEBHINN
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
ratio juris
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.344
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 1467-9337
pISSN - 0952-1917
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9337.2007.00349.x
Subject(s) - subjectivity , jurisprudence , field (mathematics) , epistemology , domain (mathematical analysis) , sociology , law , philosophy , political science , mathematics , mathematical analysis , pure mathematics
. Despite some appearances to the contrary, a popular view in jurisprudence is that there is a limited domain which either constitutes the field of enquiry of law or at least delineates the arena from which a particular field of enquiry ought to be selected. This article argues that “law” is comprised of a number of fields of enquiry that may be and are selected subjectively. It is claimed that theories of law may be freed from the perceived need to provide authoritative justification for their field of enquiry, if the role of subjectivity is acknowledged appropriately.