The “Sources” Thesis and the Social “Fruits” of Law. A Dialogue between Analytical Metaphysics and the Theory of Legal Systems

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion about the socially constituted and constitutive character of law. At first, I will try to explain what this constitutive or metaphysical determination relationship consists of. In particular, I will dwell on the type of constitutive explanation that rests on this kind of relationship. Later, I will concentrate on the metaphysical thesis of legal positivism according to which the existence and the contents of law are determined by social sources. Finally, I will refer to how the law constitutes itself and other social results. In this sense, I will connect the thesis of the social sources with an additional one referring to the social fruits that the law contributes to produce.