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3_9_Правовой прагматизм в учении Ричарда Познера . Наука

Legal Pragmatism in the Teachings of Richard Posner

Authors
  • Yulia V. Pechatnova

    Yulia V. Pechatnova. Altai State University. Barnaul. Russia

Abstract

The article examines the pragmatic approach to law set out in the scientific papers of the American lawyer, retired judge, professor at the University of Chicago, Richard Posner. The purpose of the study is to reveal the essence of legal pragmatism. In the course of the study, the author analyzed the prerequisites of the pragmatic approach development in Richard Posner’s works. Empha-sized here are the strengths and weaknesses of legal pragmatism in comparison with other approaches to legal understanding. The research methods include general scientific techniques of analysis, specific scientific historical and logical research methods, as well as comparative legal and formal legal ones. As a result of the study, the author drew the following conclusions. 1) Richard Posner is a prominent representative of American legal realism. 2) Richard Posner's pragmatic understanding of law differs from classical American legal realism in that law is viewed through the prism of practical implications (utility) as a criterion of truth. 3) The pragmatic approach to law is based on the method of its economic analysis whose founder is known to be Richard Posner. 4) Richard Posner justified the application of economic and other non-legal methodology to the study of legal matter by the need to displace the established formalist approaches to resolving legal disputes. 5) It was Richard Posner's multifaceted professional biography that served to be the prerequisite for shaping his practice-oriented views on law. At different periods of time Richard Posner held public office, ran business and transmitted the views developed in practice into his research papers. Thus, the results of the study expand the knowledge of substantiating law methods in its determinacy by social reality.
Keywords: legal pragmatism, Richard Posner, American realism, sociological school of law, Anglo-Saxon legal system.