Oxford Legal Philosophy Elucidating Law (Hardcover)

What are the aims of legal philosophy? Which questions should it seek to address? How should legal philosophers approach and engage with their subject-matter and what constraints are incumbent on them as they do so? What are the criteria of success of theories of law and how do we know if they have been met? Can there be progress in legal philosophy? In Elucidating Law Julie Dickson addresses these and other questions concerning the methodology or the philosophy of legal philosophy and offers her own distinctive response to them. The book advocates that legal philosophers should espouse an approach that Dickson terms Indirectly Evaluative Legal Philosophy. This distinctive approach can facilitate legal philosophers understanding of aspects of the nature of law whilst avoiding prematurely or inappropriately regarding law as inherently morally valuable. Law is a powerful systemic and institutionalized social tool. It should be understood in a manner appropriate to its character.