and c) perform this operation in a manner that still leaves each form of knowledge unaffected and uncontaminated by its counterpart. In essence, all that is needed in order to establish a valid synthetic a priori is the refutation and abolition of the law of the excluded middle. The view presented by Russell is thus one that with reference to the validity of conclusions lies close to the view of legal dogmatics, which is a discipline that follows the dogma that the law is valid and that consequently it should be followed as the point of departure for its argumentation, thus making the discourse of jurisprudence at least formally, if not materially, analogous to science proper. Such a view of jurisprudence, however, can lead to the exact dogmatic mistake of metaphysics that Kant discusses inCritique of Pure Reason, and turn the jurisprudential project into legal metaphysics, such as natural law.And it is precisely this specific danger that the German Historical School sets out to avert, which it does by making clear that the positivist understanding of legal dogmatics denies metaphysical insights ruling out the possibility that the laws in the statute books may change.To the Historical School the unquestionable authority of the statute books is merely a presumption of unquestionability in a specific legal context, but the unquestionable authority of the text does not constitute an axiom, as is the case with the scriptures of theology. The doctrine of legal dogmatics only states the formal dogma that the “statute books” and other sources of law constitute valid premisses for legal argumentation and legal reasoning. The doctrine of legal dogmatics, however, is materially undogmatic, since it does not a priori prescribe the material content of the law. A further point that must be kept in mind is that law is a practical discourse insofar as it strives to come to reasonable dictums rather than apodictic conclusions. (See part VII). p a r t i 1 , c h a p t e r 4 130 4 . 2 . 2 . 2 Excursus: Dogmatism as a Scientific Premiss
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=