Legal realism is an approach to jurisprudence that studies law as it operates in the world. This lesson introduces its empirical method and its focus on legal practice rather than abstract accounts of what law ought to be.
Legal realism is a naturalistic approach to law: it holds that jurisprudence should emulate the methods of the natural sciences. Instead of relying only on abstract philosophical argument, researchers should develop hypotheses and test them against observations of the world.
All flashcards
Legal realism
An approach to jurisprudence that studies how law operates in practice, especially through empirical investigation of legal actors and decisions.
Holmes’s prediction theory
The view that one useful way to understand law is to predict what courts will do.
Holmes’s “bad man” perspective
A practical viewpoint that treats legal duties as predictions of consequences, without relying on moral approval.
Legal indeterminacy
The possibility that legal materials do not settle a hard case in one uniquely correct way.
Hart’s criticism of predictive theories
Rules guide and justify judicial decisions; they are not merely information for predicting court outcomes.
Quiz questions
What does legal formalism claim about judicial decision-making?Answer: Judges deduce a uniquely correct result from clear and comprehensive rules.
What does legal indeterminacy mean in the realist account?Answer: Legal materials may leave more than one plausible outcome in a hard case.
What role do legal rules have, according to H. L. A. Hart’s criticism of predictive theories?Answer: They serve as standards judges use to guide and justify decisions.
What concern did Ronald Dworkin and Lon Fuller raise about sharply separating law from morality?Answer: Moral reasoning or principles can matter to legal interpretation.
A statistical model predicts court outcomes with high accuracy. What does that result alone establish?Answer: It identifies predictive patterns but does not establish what caused the outcomes.
Based on the Wikipedia article Legal realism, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.