On Law and Justice (Hardcover)

On Law and Justice by Alf Ross (1899-1979) is a classic work of twentieth-century legal philosophy. The first translation into English was notably poor and abridged and it misrepresented Ross s views. Translated from scratch and in full length from the original Danish this new critical edition casts light on Ross s work and resituates it firmly in the context of current debates in the field. Ross was in H.L.A. Hart s words the most acute and best-equipped philosopher of Scandinavian legal realism. On Law and Justice provides a comprehensive outline of his legal realist position offering a consistently empirical research programme that simultaneously recognizes the distinctly normative character of law. Ross s legal realism avoids the standard critiques against behaviourist reductionism while still remaining categorically distinct from legal positivism and natural law.