ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF LAW IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNICATIVE THEORY Cover Image

ПРО ПЕРЕТВОРЕННЯ ПРАВА В КОНТЕКСТІ КОМУНІКАТИВНОЇ ТЕОРІЇ
ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF LAW IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNICATIVE THEORY

Author(s): Bjarne Melkevik
Subject(s): Pragmatism, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Law, Theory of Communication
Published by: Національний юридичний університет імені Ярослава Мудрого
Keywords: Jürgen Habermas; philosophy of law; legal theory; constitutionalism; legality and legitimacy; validity; law and democracy;

Summary/Abstract: The author analyses the contribution of Jürgen Habermas as an open model of legal thought. He focuses more specifically on the question of the transformation of law as«anchored» in democratic legitimacy and therefore to be understood from the life world of concrete individuals. The author emphasizes that Habermas seeks to democratically stabilize «legality and legitimacy» to protect them from all undemocratic usurpation. The author stresses the «social validity» that accompanies all public discourse and the perspective of democracy obtained by speaking out at the level of a multitude of social«procedures». It is through practical discussions that we can «test» the normative proposals to better assess their «meanings and validity», their «cognitivity and universality», their«usefulness («interest») and (conceivable) consensus». The author analyses these six bodies of thought in detail to identify the meaning of habermasian thought concerning the democratic transformation of the law. He insists that the transformation of the law is«tested» in society from the bottom up in order to create, as much as possible, the broadest possible social consensus concerning «law». In the end, the law attests to our ability to live together.