Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation

by Feteris, Eveline T.

• ISBN13: 9780792355847
• ISBN10: 0792355849
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

Legal argumentation is a distinctively multidisciplinary field of inquiry. It draws its data, assumptions and methods from disciplines such as legal theory, legal philosophy, logic, argumentation theory, rhetoric, linguistics, literary theory, philosophy, sociology, and artificial intelligence. This presents the growing group of interested scholars and students with a problem of access, since, even for those active in the field, it is not common to have acquired a familiarity with relevant aspects of each discipline that enters into this multidisciplinary matrix. Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation offers its readers a unique and comprehensive survey of the various theoretical influences which have informed the study of legal argumentation. It discusses salient backgrounds to this field as well as all major approaches and trends in the contemporary research. It surveys relevant theoretical factors both from various continental law traditions and common law countries.

Table of Contents

Preface	x
Introduction	1	(1)
Argumentation and legal justification	1	(1)
Structure of this book	2	(3)
Research into Legal Argumentation	5	(8)
Introduction	5	(1)
Argumentation and the interpretation of legal rules	5	(5)
Central research questions in theories of legal argumentation	10	(3)
A survey of Approaches and topics	13	(13)
Introduction	13	(1)
Research of legal argumentation	13	(2)
Approaches in research of legal argumentation	15	(6)
The logical approach	15	(1)
The rhetorical approach	16	(3)
The dialogical approach	19	(2)
Topics in research of legal argumentation	21	(5)
The philosophical component	21	(1)
The theoretical component	21	(1)
The reconstruction component	22	(2)
The empirical component	24	(1)
The practical component	24	(2)
The Logical Approach	26	(14)
Introduction	26	(1)
Logical validity and acceptability of legal argumentation	26	(2)
Various logical theories	28	(4)
Logical analysis of legal argumentation	32	(2)
The discussion of the importance of logic for legal argumentation	34	(4)
Conclusion	38	(2)
Toulmin's Argumentation Model	40	(8)
Introduction	40	(1)
Toulmin's argumentation model and the analysis and evaluation of legal argumentation	41	(3)
Applications of Toulmin's model in the theoretical and practical literature on legal argumentation	44	(2)
Conclusion	46	(2)
Perelman's New Rhetoric	48	(14)
Introduction	48	(1)
Perelman's general argumentation theory	49	(3)
Perelman's legal argumentation theory	52	(4)
Applications of Perelman's New Rhetoric in the literature of legal argumentation	56	(3)
Conlcusion	59	(3)
Habermas' Theory of communicative Rationality	62	(11)
Introduction	62	(1)
Communicative rationality and the ideal speech situation	62	(5)
Discussions and the ideal speech situation	62	(2)
Levels of communicative rationality	64	(2)
The structure of argumentation	66	(1)
The ideal speech situation of legal discussions	67	(2)
Applications of Habermas' theory in law	69	(2)
Conclusion	71	(2)
Maccormick's Theory of the Justification of legal decisions	73	(19)
Introduction	73	(1)
Deductive justification	74	(4)
Second-order justification	78	(5)
Consequentialist arguments	83	(2)
Arguments of coherence	85	(2)
Arguments of consistency	87	(1)
Conclusion	88	(4)
Alexy's Procedural Theory of Legal Argumentation	92	(27)
Introduction	92	(1)
The theory of general practical discourse	93	(9)
The rules of general practical discourse	93	(7)
The principles of practical rationality	100	(2)
The justification of rules of discourse	102	(1)
The theory of legal argumentation	102	(12)
The rules of the internal justification	103	(4)
The rules of the external justification	107	(7)
Legal and general practical discourse	114	(2)
Conclusion	116	(3)
Aarnio's Theory of the Justification of Legal Interpretations	119	(20)
Introduction	119	(1)
The interpretation of legal norms	120	(2)
The justification of an interpretation standpoint	122	(5)
The structure of the justification	122	(3)
Internal and external justification	125	(2)
The rationality and acceptability of legal interpretations	127	(1)
The rationality of legal interpretations	127	(4)
The rules concerning the rationality of discussions	128	(1)
The rules concerning the burden of proof	129	(2)
The acceptability of legal interpretations	131	(3)
Forms of life and the acceptability of legal interpretations	131	(1)
The audience and the form of life	132	(2)
Conclusion	134	(5)
Peczenik's Theory of Transformations in the Law	139	(24)
Introduction	139	(1)
Transformations and the justification of legal decisions	140	(4)
The legal justification	144	(10)
The transformation into the law	144	(2)
The transformation inside the law	146	(8)
The deep justification	154	(4)
The rationality of legal argumentation	154	(2)
Legal ideology	156	(2)
Conclusion	158	(5)
The Pragma-Dialectical Theory of legal Argumentation in the context of a Critical Discussion	163	(26)
Introduction	163	(1)
A pragma-dialectical approach of argumentation as part of a critical discussion	163	(8)
The pragma-dialectical theory of argumentative discussions	163	(4)
The analysis and evaluation of argumentative discussions	167	(4)
Pragma-dialectical analysis of legal argumentation	171	(10)
Legal argumentation as part of a critical discussion	171	(3)
The analysis of legal disputes	174	(1)
Single and complex argumentation in legal discussions	175	(1)
Clear cases and hard cases: single argumentation and complex argumentation	176	(2)
Clues for the reconstruction of the argumentation structure	178	(1)
Missing premises and complex argumentation	179	(2)
Pragma-dialectical evaluation of legal argumentation	181	(6)
Norms for the evaluation of the content	181	(3)
Norms for the evaluation of the discussion procedure	184	(3)
Conclusion	187	(2)
Towards a theory of Legal Argumentation in the context of a Critical Discussion	189	(16)
Introduction	189	(1)
Approaches to legal argumentation in logic, argumentation theory and philosophy	189	(4)
Approaches to legal argumentation in legal theory	193	(4)
A Model for the analysis and evaluation of legal argumentation: five components of a dialogical theory of legal argumentation	197	(8)
Bibliography	205	(13)
Author Index	218	(3)
Subject Index	221