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American Legal Realism And Practical Guidance, Joshua Davis, Manuel Vargas

Joshua P. Davis

H.L.A. Hart’s well-known rejection of American Legal Realism turned in part on the idea that Realism lacked the resources to provide the sort of guidance that we might reasonably seek from a theory of law. Although Hart's criticisms were widely regarded as devastating, in recent years American Legal Realism has undergone something of a renaissance. The principal architect of that renaissance is Brian Leiter, who has re-established Realism as an important and even indispensable approach to jurisprudence. In this chapter, our aim is to show how, despite its considerable attractions, Leiter’s brand of Legal Realism appears to be in much …