A Discourse-Theoretical Conception of Practical Reason*

Abstract
Contemporary discussions about practical reason or practical rationality invoke four competing views which can be named as follows by reference to their historical models: Aristotelian, Hobbesian, Kantian and Nietzschean. The subject-matter of this article is a defence of the Kantian conception of practical rationality in the interpretation of discourse theory. At the heart, lies the justification and the application of the rules of discourse. An argument consisting of three parts is pre sented to justify the rules of discourse. The three parts are as follows: a transcen dental-pragmatic argument; an argument which takes account of the maximisation of individual utility and an empirical premise about an interest in correctness. Within the framework of the problem of application, the article outlines a justification of human rights and of the basic institutions of the democratic constitutional state on the basis of discourse theory.     

法律权威与行动理由——基于拉兹实践哲学进路的考察

权威可以分为理论权威与实践权威、事实权威与合法权威,拉兹讨论的是合法的实践权威。权力与承认这两个概念都无法有效地界定合法的实践权威,在一定意义上可以说,拉兹的实践权威理论批判性地借鉴了权力论的分析模式并用行动理由作为基本分析概念。法律主张合法权威是法律的一个本质特征,法律规范也是一种强制性的行动理由,即一种内容独立的排他性理由。     

Legal System and Practical Reason. On the Structure of a Normative Theory of Law*

Abstract
It will be argued, firstly, that there is a link between the legal validity of a norm and the rational justifiability of a requirement that judges should apply this norm, based on a normative conception of legal validity and the postulate that judges should act as rational persons; secondly, that rational justifiability of legal norms requires the construction of a legal system in a model of principles that differs from theories, e.g., of Kelsen, Hart, Dworkin and Alexy, which are not fully adequate for a normative conception of law.     

Hobbes on Political Authority,Practical Reason and Truth

The role of sovereign authority in Hobbes' political philosophy is to establish peace and stability by serving as a definitive and unambiguous source of law. Although these broad outlines of Hobbes' account of political authority are uncontentious, matters quickly become more complicated once one seeks its normative basis. This much is evident from recent debates on the normative status of the laws of nature and the related issue as to whether Hobbes is better categorised as an incipient legal positivist or as a heterodox natural law thinker. In this paper I argue that although the positivist and natural law commitments in Hobbes' theory of political authority can be partially reconciled, such a reconciliation points to the need for more substantive theories of practical reason and truth than are to be found in Hobbes' official statements on these topics. Section II examines the positivist and natural law dimensions in Hobbes' thought and suggests that the role of sovereign authority in providing the definitive interpretation of the laws of nature allows a partial reconciliation to be effected. In section III, I consider the tension between this reconciliation and Hobbes' instrumentalism about practical reason and equivocal separation of authority and truth.     

实践理性:一种法学方法论意义上的探究

“虽然事实上新的体系取代所有其他的体系,但是这并不减损前人的功绩。因为,如果没有他们的发现,甚至是他们失败的尝试,我们就无法在一个体系里取得整个哲学的真正原理的统一。”———伊曼努尔·康德〔1〕引　言关于法律的意义,在法学专业领域内虽然观点上各有侧重,但大多数百     

Judges Taken Too Seriously: Professor Dworkin's Views on Jurisprudence*

Abstract. The author analyses Ronald Dworkin's ideas about legal theory and legal philosophy, with particular regard to metatheoretical and methodological problems. He focuses on the questions of the function and the object of jurisprudence, and on those of the content and method of argumentation of jurisprudence. According to the author, Dworkin's theory is a normative theory, an ideology referred to the judicial practice. Although judges really make law, one can deny that they do. This strategy is the one judges traditionally employ when they say that they are merely applying the law-giver's intentions or fundamental principles that existed long before the case they have to decide. It is that discourse, not rights, that Dworkin takes seriously.     

Judicial Practical Reason: Judges in Morally Imperfect Legal Orders

I here address the question of how judges should decide questions before a court in morally imperfect legal systems. I characterize how moral considerations ought inform judicial reasoning given that the law may demand what it has no right to. Much of the large body of work on legal interpretation, with its focus on legal semantics and epistemology, does not adequately countenance the limited legitimacy of actual legal institutions to serve as a foundation for an ethics of adjudication. I offer an adjudicative theory in the realm of non-ideal theory: I adopt a view of law that has achieved consensus in legal philosophy, make some plausible assumptions about human politics, and then consider directly the question of how judges should reason. Ultimately, I argue that judges should be cognizant of the goods that are at stake on particular occasions of adjudication and that this requires treating legal requirements transparently, i.e., as sensitive to their moral justifications.     

实践理性与疑难案件的法律适用——基于“实践法律观”的一种补充

当前在疑难案件中,法律的正确适用是司法的核心问题及公众关注的焦点。但由于＂法律观＂的差别,使得疑难案件的法律适用存在诸多问题。从学术史及方法论角度看,学者们处理疑难案件有各种方法,但最终都依赖对＂法＂的正确认识及案件事实与法律规范之间的关系的澄清。只有在个案事实与规范的融贯中,在实践理性理论框架内,通过类推等方法,发现、鉴别法律规范才能使疑难案件得以恰当处理。     

The Permissive Law of Practical Reason in Kant's Metaphysics of Morals

Law and Philosophy -     

Practical Aspects of Analyzing Vegetable Oils in Fire Debris*

Abstract: Vegetable oils undergo burning, self‐heating, and spontaneous ignition, resulting in their presence in fire debris. As these processes can affect the fatty acid content of vegetable oils, it is important that debris be properly handled in order to obtain reliable and informative data. This research investigated changes in vegetable oil content as a result of storage conditions and different types of burning. Material spiked with vegetable oils and burned was stored under various long‐term conditions, and debris was tested by heating overnight using passive headspace concentration. Results indicated that refrigeration is ideal for fire debris samples suspected of containing vegetable oils and that including passive headspace concentration in the analytical scheme would not affect oils. Spontaneous ignition experiments were conducted to compare the effects of various burning processes on vegetable oil content. Vegetable oils that experienced nonpiloted ignition, self‐heating, and spontaneous ignition produced noticeably different chromatograms from those that underwent piloted ignition.     

H. L. A. Hart on Legal Obligation*

Abstract. The author discusses Hart's concept of legal obligation, especially his contention that there is an obligation to obey the law which is peculiarly legal, i.e., non-moral. This view is held to be mistaken. What is denied is that legal rules, merely by their being issued, offer a justification for the use of coercion to ensure compliance with them. Although moral and other social (customary) rules are considered self-justifying, that is not the case of legal rules. Any analogy between these two types of rules in justifying their implementation by force is deemed wrong.**     

儒家文化视角下中国腐败犯罪的成因

腐败犯罪的一个很重要的原因,就是中国传统的儒家文化的影响。表现为两方面,一是对于人性本善的假定,导致监督理念的阙如;一是家国同构的理念,使法律弱化,权力异化。     

Passivity at Work. A Conversation on an Element in the Philosophy of Giorgio Agamben

This text is based on a staged dialogue conceived by Alice Lagaay and Juliane Schiffers, which closed the conference ‘How not to speak’ (Wie nicht sprechen) at the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin on 22 April. Critical comments and questions emerging from the discussion that took place on that day are reflected in ‘Voice Off’.     

Part III. Interstate Agreements on Cooperation Against Terrorism : Treaty Concerning Cooperation Between Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the Struggle Against Terrorism

The authors of Federal Law No. 131 "On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation" knew what they were doing when they provided a three-year "transition period" for their creation. The law entered into force in its full measure in far fewer than all of the regions of the country and there is plenty of confusion. And the situation with authority and money among the bodies of local self-government recalls the well-known old anecdote concerning the fate of money under communism: some have it and some do not.     

刑事诉讼中举证责任分配之我见

提出事实主张是承担举证责任的前提,不是举证责任的内容,这两个问题不应混为一谈.公诉方对其掌握的无罪证据有"展示"义务,并不等于说就有举证责任,公诉人不应承担被告人无罪的举证责任.被告人在审判中可以举证证明自己无罪或罪轻,这是其权利,而不是义务或责任.在某些情况下,举证责任会从控方转移到被告人身上.举证责任倒置和举证责任转移是有区别的.为了强化法律对刑讯逼供行为的约束机制,在此类案件中应适用举证责任倒置.     

性侵儿童案中被害人陈述可信度判断研究

在性侵儿童案中,由于被害儿童身心特点,导致其作证能力和证言可信度常存在争议。但实际上年幼不是否认儿童作证能力的决定性因素。在性侵儿童案件中,要摒弃过度纠缠于对儿童作证能力的争议,将作证能力与证言可信度分开,肯定其作证能力,而着重判断证言可信度。通过对371份性侵儿童案件的裁判文书的分析可知,判断儿童被害人陈述可信度的因素与判断成年被害人陈述可信度的因素大致相同,同时实践中也结合儿童的特点提出了有针对性的考量因素。因此,对童言过于忌惮实无必要。在判断儿童被害人陈述可信度时,可以主要依靠判断被害人(证人)可信度的通常方法,同时更多地引入专家证人/辅助人帮助理解儿童行为和心理特点。这样将有助于解决儿童作证涉及的证明问题,更好地保护儿童权益。     

Parents' and Children's Views on Talking to Judges in Parenting Disputes in Australia

Judicial interviews with children in contested parenting proceedingsare an uncommon and contentious practice in Australia and manyother common law jurisdictions. While there has been some debateabout the merits and risks of such a practice among professionalsand academic commentators, there is little research on the viewsof children and parents. In this study, children and parentsinvolved in contested and non-contested family law matters inAustralia were asked to comment on this practice. A subsequentarticle will explore the views of Australian judges on talkingwith children in chambers, and their experience of doing so.Children and parents had mixed views but most children saidthat it should be an option even if they did not want it forthemselves. Children who had been the subject of contested proceedingswere generally keen to talk to the judge even though most hadbeen interviewed by an independent expert and had a child legalrepresentative. Resident parents were, however, much more likelythan non-resident parents to be in favour of children beingable to talk with the judge, either alone or together with acounsellor or ‘interpreter’. Both parents and childrenwho were in favour of children talking directly to judges gavevery similar reasons. They were related to children's rightto be heard and acknowledged, the value of direct communicationand the likely beneficial effect on the decision.     

我国目前不宜引进辩诉交易的原因考

辩诉交易始于美国,美式辩诉交易是由一整套相互支撑的配套程序组合而成的.其中,证据展示和答辩制度是其前提程序,辩诉交易过程中还必须遵循几项具体原则,法律上同时为该交易设立了特殊的后续程序与救济程序.该制度有别于英国、意大利刑事诉讼程序中的"辩诉交易"以及中国的简易程序,我国目前尚不具备适用美式辩诉交易的主客观环境,不适宜引进该程序.