The Prophecies of What the Courts Will Do in Fact: The “Concept of Law” according to American legal realists such as Cohen, Llewellyn, Cook and Frank

The Centre for Constitutional Studies is delighted to present this online lecture by Luca Malagoli entitled: The Prophecies of What the Courts Will Do in Fact: The “Concept of Law” according to American legal realists such as Cohen, Llewellyn, Cook and Frank.

Although often portrayed as advocating philosophically naïve claims about the nature of law, prominent American legal realists such as F. S. Cohen, K. N. Llewellyn, W. W. Cook, and J. N. Frank seem to have adopted a more sophisticated philosophical strategy in formulating the “definitions of law” we find in their works. This common strategy is significantly influenced by the pragmatist tradition (especially James and Dewey) and, if properly understood, seems to resist the criticisms typically and repeatedly levelled at it in the philosophy of law.

Register for the zoom webinar here.