La science et l’ontologie dualiste en droit : le droit naturel et le positivisme juridique face à l’argument épistocratique
(2024) Revue interdisciplinaire d’études juridiques — Vol. 94, n° 2, p. 27-58 (2024)
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- (en) By examining the role of scientific discourses and arguments in law, this contribution explores how natural law and legal positivism respond to them and posits the existence of an ontological dualism that persists in both approaches. This dualism separates the domain of “objective” facts (including “nature” and “scientific truth”) from the domain of values, subjectivity, politics, and law. Within this dualistic framework, scientific discourses can claim neutrality and objectivity, sometimes with a normative dimension. Indeed, natural law attributes normativity to these discourses, just as sociological positivism sees social facts as a source of normativity. In contrast, legal positivism isolates “pure” law from external elements and reaffirms the separation between facts and values, but paradoxically reinforces the “undisputable” nature of external factors. This article concludes that natural law and legal positivism are ill-equipped to counter epistocratic arguments and highlights the need for more critical and interdisciplinary approaches to law.
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Walckiers, P. (2024). La science et l’ontologie dualiste en droit : le droit naturel et le positivisme juridique face à l’argument épistocratique. Revue interdisciplinaire d’études juridiques, 94(2), 27-58. https://doi.org/10.3917/riej.093.0027 (Original work published 2024)