Realism and Jurisprudence: A Contemporary Assessment

Kevin P. Lee

Realism and Jurisprudence: A Contemporary Assessment

Kevin P. Lee

North Carolina Central University School of Law

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Book Review of Brian Tamanaha, "A Realistic Theory of Law"

Brian Z. Tamanaha has written extensively on realism in jurisprudence, but in his Realistic Theory of Law (2018), he uses "realism" in a commonplace way to ground a rough outline of legal history. While he refers to his method as genealogical, he does not acknowledge the complex tensions in the development of the philosophical use of that term from Nietzsche to Foucault, and the complex epistemological issues that separate them. While the book makes many interesting points, the methodological concerns outweigh them in the overall assessment of the value of the work.

Original language	American English
Journal	Golden Gate University Law Review
Volume	49
State	Published - 2018

Keywords

jurisprudence
epistemology
ontology
realism
legal theory
legal history
genealogy
Nietzsche
Foucault

Disciplines

Epistemology
Law
Law and Philosophy
Theory and Philosophy

Access to Document

Biran Tamanaha, A REALISTIC THEORY OF LAW.pdfFinal published version, 375 KBLicense: Unspecified

Cite this

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KW - jurisprudence

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KW - ontology

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KW - legal theory

KW - legal history

KW - genealogy

KW - Nietzsche

KW - Foucault

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