缘何不是法律方法——原本法学的探源

中国法学界对在汉语中到底是使用“法学方法”还是“法律方法”存在着争议。之所以会产生这种争议是因为人们对德国法学中“法学方法论”一词中的“法学”的蕴涵不太清楚。德语的“法学方法论”中的“法学”有特定的内涵和意义,而不是中国法学界所普遍理解的法学。前者是由西方法律文明的创造者——古罗马人所创立的一门独立的科学或实践智慧,是西方两千多年法律文明中绵延不绝的伟大传统。这种传统意义的法学称为原本法学。相对于原本法学来说,现在所谓的其他法学学科如法社会学、法经济学、法史学、甚至法哲学,都是一种交叉或边缘学科。在这种意义下,在汉语中还是使用“法学方法”一词较为合理。

Why not Legal Method

Chinese jurists have dissenting opinions on whether they should use methodology of the science of law or legal method in Chinese.The reason behind the dispute is that they cannot accurately understand Jurisprudenz that the German jurists express.The meaning of Jurisprudenz is different from that of science of law that Chinese jurists usually understand.Jurisprudenz is a branch of knowledge or practical reason which the Roman jurists invented.It is a great tradition of the West legal civilization.It is described as the generic branch of the science of law.The other branches,including sociology of law,legal history,legal philosophy etc,are the marginal branches of the science of law.In the circumstances,it is suitable that we use the methodology of the science of law in Chinese.