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A Sociology of Legal Distinctions: Introducing Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Socio‐legal Concepts
Author(s) -
Přibáň Jiří
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of law and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.263
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1467-6478
pISSN - 0263-323X
DOI - 10.1111/jols.12046
Subject(s) - sociology of law , sociology , empirical legal studies , epistemology , legal realism , formalism (music) , legal science , legal formalism , law , legal profession , philosophy of law , social science , comparative law , political science , black letter law , private law , philosophy , art , musical , visual arts
In this introduction to Main Currents in Contemporary Sociology of Law , I briefly comment on the current state of socio‐legal studies and sociology of law and reasons leading to this collection of essays. I subsequently focus on some general problems which constantly recur in different socio‐legal contexts, especially on the sociological critique of legal formalism and the closely related distinctions between internal and external perspectives of law and legal facts and values. Discussing these classic distinctions, I argue that they are an intrinsic part of both legal and sociological interpretations of positive law. Sociology of law, therefore, cannot resolve theoretical and methodological dilemmas associated with them, yet it can rethink and reformulate them to better understand its own position as a social science of positive law in contemporary society.