From Legal Philosophysing to Comparing Laws and Legal Cultures, and Back

Abstract

In order for the validity of the results of legal theory research to extend beyond the present on
the one hand, and beyond the national on the other, comparative analysis is necessary to trace
the historical development as well. A truly general theory of law can only be built on such a
threefold interdisciplinarity, i.e. on the basis of legal history and comparative law outlook. It is
in this context that everything from the meaning of the choice of legal form to the ontological
significance of the deontology of the legal profession reveals what is ultimately nothing other
than the eternal question of “what is law?”. This gaining of perspective is given added meaning
and a new grounding from an external perspective by the fact that law is now seen in the context
of the comparative historical study of legal cultures and judicial thought, now in the fullness of
its sociality, as part of ordering in the process of social integration.