Traditions of Legal Argumentation of the Brussels School of Legal Philosophy

Abstract

The aim of the author is to investigate the influence of Ch. Perelman’s oeuvre on modern ideas of the Brussels school of legal philosophy. The author points to the unjustified neglect of the Western scientific community to the ideas of the school, whose members are engaged in the adaptation of theoretical developments of Ch. Perelman to the needs of legal practice. The elaboration of the concepts of judicial discretion, the general principles of law and global law are the important achievement of the school. The author notes a variety of legal conceptions of the representatives of the Brussels school, but highlights their common features such as the recognition of the rhetorical nature of law and the recognition of the legal pluralism and the rejection of absolute values, simultaneously denying value relativism, the proclamation of the central role of the judge in the process of legal enforcement.