The epistemology of law in the light of the metaphysical legitimation of law

Summary

The problems associated with understanding law as the regulator of social relations involve many separate issues which undoubtedly constitute intellectual challenges for the philosophy of law. In this context, the philosophy of law inquires, inter alia, about whether law exists as a universal structure of the category of being, and about the possibility of the objective cognition of law as an ontological and deontological category. However, it transpires that this task is by no means easy, when it comes to questions concerning epistemological and ontological issues in relation to law – and consequently its justification (the metaphysics of law), and then its legitimation – unequivocal answers are not forthcoming.

Keywords:  positive law, natural law, legitimacy of law, transcendental philosophy, epistemic justification

The research on this article was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, no. 2015/19/B/HS5/03114 

Epistemologia prawa w świetle metafizycznego uzasadnienia prawa

Streszczenie

Problematyka poznania prawa jako regulatora stosunków społecznych zawiera wiele odrębnych zagadnień, które dla filozofii prawa niewątpliwie stanowią intelektualne wyzwania. W tym kontekście filozofia prawa pyta między innymi o istnienie uniwersalnych struktur kategorii bytu, jaką jest prawo, a także o możliwość obiektywnego poznania prawa jako kategorii ontologicznej i deontologicznej.Okazuje się jednak, że zadanie to nie jest łatwe, a odpowiedź na pytania o kwestie epistemologiczne i ontologiczne w stosunku do prawa, a w konsekwencji o jego uzasadnienie (metafizykę prawa), a następnie legitymizację przekracza możliwości jednoznacznej na nie odpowiedzi.

The problems associated with understanding law as the regulator of social relations involve many separate issues which undoubtedly constitute intellectual challenges for the philosophy of law. In this context, the philosophy of law inquires, inter alia, about whether law exists as a universal structure of the category of being, and about the possibility of the objective cognition of law as an ontological and deontological category. However, it transpires that this task is by no means easy, when it comes to questions concerning epistemological and ontological issues in relation to law – and consequently its justification (the metaphysics of law), and then its legitimation – unequivocal answers are not forthcoming.

The research on this article was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, no. 2015/19/B/HS5/03114