Das Proprium der Rechtswissenschaft

Is the term »legal science« an oxymoron? American legal scholars would deny this. For the top law schools, it is obvious that academic law is a social science. Many law professors hold a Ph.D. in economics, political science, sociology, psychology or another neighbouring field. They routinely publish in peer-review journals, no less than their colleagues from the social sciences. They define their research questions the way all social scientists do, which means setting out at defining one effect or testing it empirically. A separate discourse aims at fleshing out implications for legal practice. This predominantly takes place in student-run law reviews. However this discourse as well is often not problem-driven. It explores the legal implications of an effect well established in theory or empirical research. German legal academia differs considerably from this.