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2 Liverpool L. Rev. 5 (1980)

handle is hein.journals/lvplr2 and id is 1 raw text is: 5 TOWARDS A STRUCTURALIST THEORY OF LAW* Bernard S. Jackson** Introduction Structuralism originated in general linguistics and rapidly found applications in other disciplines, notably anthropology and literary criticism.' To date, there have been few attempts to consider its implications for law.2 But legal philosophy cannot remain immune from the structuralist approach, for two reasons: first, law partakes in some of the features of a system of communication and to that extent is subject to whatever contribution structuralism has made to the science of semiotics; second, structuralism implies a challenge to the positivist metaphysic and epistemology which underlies most contemporary legal philosophy - much modern natural law thinking not excluded. This paper seeks to provide an introduction to the basic structuralist claims and their potential for legal theory. Such an endeavour - especially where, as here, it is presented with a minimum of technicality - runs considerable risks of distortion and simplification. My defence must lie in the hope that the very process of- simplification and extended application may produce insights which elude the disciplinary specialist. (i) Basic Structuralist Claims Defining characteristics At its most general, structuralism asserts the existence within the human 'This article summarizes parts of a report on work in progress prevserted to the 1979 conference of the U.K. Association for Legal and Social Philosophy under the title Structuralism and Legal Theory, hereinafter referred to as the full paper. It is now published by Liverpool Polytechnic Press, and may be purchased from The Department of Law, Liverpool Polytechnic, Hamilton House, 24 Pall Mall, Liverpool L3 6HR, price 12.50. cheques should be made payable to Liverpool City Council. *'Professor of law and Head of Department of Law, Liverpool Polytechnic. I. Amongst the introductory studies which focus upon interdisciplinarv application may be noted: Howard Gardner, 77 Quest for Mmnd, London, Quartet Books, 1976; Struturalism: A Reader led. M. Lan), London, Jonathan Cape, 1970; Struauralisan: `Introduacot (ed. D. Robey), Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1973. More important but less readable are Jean Piaget, &ruaraltot, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971; R. Boudon, The Uses of Struaralism. London, Heinemann. 1971. More restricted, but useful, are C.R. Babcock, lis-Strauss. Structuralism and Sociological Theory, London, Hutchinson, 1975; Terance Hawkes, Struaturalism and Semiotics, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1977. 2. For a review of artempts to apply structuralism to specific legal questions, see mifs section Il; the principal theoretical discussions are by A: J. Arnaud, Structuralisme et Droit, 13 Archives de Philosophie de Dratr (1968), 283-301 I;den, Une methode d'analyse structurale en histoire du dron, fus Commune, Sonderhefte 6 (1977), 263-346; Idem, Essaid'Analyse structurae du Code Civil Franars, Paris, L.G.D.J., 1471

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