On Law and Justice

2012. ISBN-13: 9781584774884; ISBN-10: 1584774886. An Influential Study by a Leading Exponent of Legal Realism Ross, Alf. On Law and Justice. Originally published: Berkeley: University of California Press, 1959. xi, 383 pp. Reprinted 2004, 2012 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 9781584774884; ISBN-10: 1584774886. Hardcover. New. $65. * In this influential and oft-cited study Ross discounted the theories of natural law, positivism and legal realism. In their stead, he proposed the abandonment of "ought-propositions" for the "is-propositions" employed by other empirical sciences, thereby envisioning lawyers that serve merely as "rational technologists." Less bound by tradition, and traditional notions of justice, jurisprudence then becomes "not only a beautiful mental activity per se, but also an instrument which may benefit any lawyer who wants to understand what he is doing and why" (Preface). "For the realist . the book will be highly encouraging in its indications of the difficulties which a positivist faces in handling realism. Positivists are likely to be concerned with whether Ross has unnecessarily exposed himself to realist attacks.. Both Schools will be indebted to Ross." --W.L. Morison, 69 Yale Law Journal 1959-1960 1096. Alf Niels Christian Ross [1899-1979] was Professor of Law at the University of Copenhagen. In 1956 he was a visiting professor at the University of Illinois. He served for seven years on the constitutional committee that laid the groundwork for the Danish constitution of 1953. His many books, which have been translated extensively, include Towards a Realistic Jurisprudence (1946), A Textbook of International Law (1947), Constitution of the United Nations: Analysis of Structure and Function (1950), Why Democracy? (1952), Directives and Norms (1968) and On Guilt, Responsibility and Punishment (1975).