The problem adherence to the rule and jurisprudence

Abstract

The discussion on application to law of the principle of adherence to the rule formulated in the works of L. Wittgenstein and S. Kripke has been going in the foreign theory of law since the late 1980s, and now has been joined by the Russian researchers. The article conducts a theoretical analysis and assessment of the positions and arguments expressed by the participants of this discussion, and sums up the results. The author examines the content of the principle of adherence to the rule in the philosophy of language, describes the methods of interaction between jurisprudence and philosophy, and problematizes the link between the principle of adherence to the rule in the philosophy of language and the subject of discussion. The work employs a wide variety of sources and philosophical concepts. The scientific novelty of this research consists in the following: 1) substantiation of the absence of link between the practical application to law of the principle of adherence to the rule raised in the discussion and the content of the principle of adherence to the rule in the philosophy of language; 2) description and analysis of the method of interaction of legal dogma and philosophy of language, the determining role that it plays in structuring the arguments of the participants in the discussion, as well as its defining role for the main outcome of the discussion – refusal to address the problem of adherence to the rule in legal dogma and legal practice; 3) determination of the importance of the principle of adherence to rule for the theory of law in the context of the ontology of legal norm.