Alf Ross on Definition in Legal Language

The article deals with a very interesting and original approach to a new understanding of the role of definition in legal science, developed by the representative of Scandinavian legal realism, Alf Ross. It is shown that the basis of Ross's theory is the orientation on social facts and the "empiristic postulate", which methodologically bring his approach to the empiricist tradition within the framework of analytical philosophy, especially with a logical empiricism of R. Carnap. Ross represents his main thesis that abstract legal terms have a meaning only in context. In addition to its main tenet, Ross's paper also contains a criticism of essentialism in a definition of legal terms and some comments on the relative importance of legal definitions in common law countries as compared with countries of codified law. The translation into Russian A. Ross "Definition in Legal Language" is presented in appendix.

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