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Introduction

Introduction UGO MATTEI & MATHIAS REIMANN For a number of years, we have been increasingly concerned about th e teaching and scholarship of comparative law in the United States. In particular, we have sensed a lack of methodological reflec­ tion and theoretical foundation. We have therefore decided to take a fresh look at this time-honored discipline and encourage others to do so as well. I. Some readers of this Journal may view a symposium on "New Directions in Comparative Law" as a waste of time and effort. Com­ parative law, they will say, has been too self-conscious, too hung up on reflecting upon its own sense or nonsense all along. Wha t we need, so the argument will go, is "hard-nosed comparative work," not theo­ retical musings about goals, methods, and agendas. Theoria sine praxis, rota sine axis. There is much to be said for such a view. For a discipline to thrive, it must produce substantive work and useful results, not theo­ ries about itself. As the German legal philosopher Gustav Radbruch once observed, obsession with one's own well-being is a sign of sick­ ness in people as well as in scholarship. It is tempting therefore sim­ ply to http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Comparative Law Oxford University Press

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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© 1998 by The American Society of Comparative Law, Inc.
ISSN
0002-919X
eISSN
2326-9197
DOI
10.1093/ajcl/46.4.597
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

UGO MATTEI & MATHIAS REIMANN For a number of years, we have been increasingly concerned about th e teaching and scholarship of comparative law in the United States. In particular, we have sensed a lack of methodological reflec­ tion and theoretical foundation. We have therefore decided to take a fresh look at this time-honored discipline and encourage others to do so as well. I. Some readers of this Journal may view a symposium on "New Directions in Comparative Law" as a waste of time and effort. Com­ parative law, they will say, has been too self-conscious, too hung up on reflecting upon its own sense or nonsense all along. Wha t we need, so the argument will go, is "hard-nosed comparative work," not theo­ retical musings about goals, methods, and agendas. Theoria sine praxis, rota sine axis. There is much to be said for such a view. For a discipline to thrive, it must produce substantive work and useful results, not theo­ ries about itself. As the German legal philosopher Gustav Radbruch once observed, obsession with one's own well-being is a sign of sick­ ness in people as well as in scholarship. It is tempting therefore sim­ ply to

Journal

American Journal of Comparative LawOxford University Press

Published: Oct 1, 1998

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