The Meaning of Law: Legal Philosophy from the Perspective of Hermeneutics

Author: Xie Hui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Philosophical hermeneutics is one of the prominent fields of the 20th century, forming one of the two wings of Western philosophy development in that century alongside analytic philosophy in the UK and the US. At the same time, it has not only had a profound influence on other philosophical trends but also exerted extensive and profound impacts in the humanities--social sciences, and even the natural sciences. How can the field of legal philosophy expand its research approaches? Should it adhere to the old path of scientific empiricism or forge a new one? This book, as an attempt, based on the fundamental principles of hermeneutics and employing the research findings of related practical philosophy, cultural--symbolic philosophy, and postmodern philosophical trends, systematically organizes and reflects on the interpretation of legal phenomena and the legal philosophy theory built upon it from eight aspects: law and meaning, facts and norms, author and reader, understanding and interpretation, language and text, difference and integration, subjectivity and objectivity, and methods and truth. On this basis, the author attempts to establish a legal philosophy guided by hermeneutic ideas and analytical methods, distinguishing it from legal philosophy oriented toward scientific ideas and analytical methods. The research object of this book is primarily the phenomenon of human interpretation of law, but it also involves the phenomenon of legal interpretation. Its focus is to highlight "hermeneutics of law," thereby upholding the inherent perspective of philosophical research while also expanding new horizons for legal philosophy research.