Ulf Linderfalk
Professor
Concepts as Tools of Legal Reasoning – How Pragmatics May Promote the Rationality of International Legal Discourse and the Work of Legal Scholars
Författare
Summary, in Swedish
Concepts are an important element of the way international lawyers think and talk about international law. They materialise as conceptual terms, such as ‘jurisdiction’, ‘self-defence’ and ‘abuse of rights’. To enable a critical evaluation of international law and legal discourse, it is important that single instances of use of such terms be fully understood. This task presupposes a full recognition of the social meaning of legal utterances. Conceptual terms are uttered not only to describe the law, but also to affect the beliefs, attitudes and behaviour of readers and listeners. International lawyers are acquainted with this social side of legal meaning but lack a theory firmly grounded in pragmatic research that can help them systematically describe and investigate it.
This article provides precisely such a theory. Crucially, it also explains how the suggested theory of meaning may promote the rationality of international legal discourse and the work of legal scholars.
This article provides precisely such a theory. Crucially, it also explains how the suggested theory of meaning may promote the rationality of international legal discourse and the work of legal scholars.
Avdelning/ar
- Folkrätt
- Juridiska institutionen
Publiceringsår
2021
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
373-404
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Nordic Journal of International Law
Volym
90
Issue
3
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Brill
Ämne
- Law
Nyckelord
- Folkrätt
- Public international law
Aktiv
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Public International Law
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 0902-7351