JuriLog - Project French-German ANR-DFG (ANR11 FRAL 003 01)

The Challenge

"JuriLog" constitutes a pioneering initiative  to enhance the strong complementarity between Law and Logic. Because of their very nature, these two disciplines are closely connected. No jurist or legal scholar  would affirm that he proceeds illogically. No logician would deny that Law contains and applies a multiplicity of logical rules that are difficult to outmatch.  Nonetheless, initiatives such as the JuriLog Project are very rare. This project aims to fill this gap and thereby promote the ideal of a universal logic of law.

The Historical and Theoretical Context

Historically, three points of contacts between Law and Logic deserve to be highlighted. For one, it has long been the subject of speculation how Roman law may have been influenced by the philosophical positions of the Stoa and more precisely by Stoic Logic. Eventually, researchers were able to confirm this assumption in the 1960´. The legal writings by the young G. W. Leibniz provide a second notable point of contact: these works constitute an exemplary attempt at establishing a strong link between Logic and Law, thereby  highlighting their unity. Finally, contemporary research provides a third contact point. Contemporary developments in logic and especially in dialogic logic are striving more than ever to formalize concrete argumentative practices and have already found the first applications in Law. The project JuriLog is going to work on these three contact points so as to further pursue the ideal of a universal logic of law.

The Research Team

The cooperation between the German team led by Prof. Matthias Armgardt and the French team led by Prof. Shahid Rahman is a direct outgrowth of how their respective fields of research complement each other.

The main research focus of the team in Lille consists in the development of a logical and philosophical framework designed to capture various kinds of argumentative practices. This undertaking has already led the French researchers to delve into the study of conditional and legal fictions.  The strength of the German team, on the other hand, lies in the field of Roman law and its relation to Stoic logic as well as in the field of Leibniz’ philosophy, especially his philosophy of law.

The value of the German-French cooperation is substantial and finds expression at several different levels. The cooperation yields in the first place the interdisciplinary approach required by the project´s focus: legal scholars, historians of law, philosophers and logician will all be represented thanks to the cooperation. In addition, the two research teams together conspicuously cover the contact points between Law and Logic mentioned above. More precisely, the project will be in the position to avail itself of leading scholars in the crucial fields of Roman law and Stoicism, Leibniz’ philosophy of right, and contemporary developments in logic.

Opening Conference

From left to right: Karlheinz Hülser, Shahid Rahman, Juliele Sievers, Bettine Jankowski, Sébastien Magnier, Matthias Armgardt, Juliana de Albuquerque Katz.

JuriLog Konferenz

From left to right: Rainhard Bengez, Karlheinz Hülser, Juliele Sievers, Giuliano Bacigalupo, Fosca Mariani Zini, Sébastien Magnier, Sandrine Chassagnard-Pinet, Juliana de Albuquerque Katz, Patrice Canivez, Matthias Armgardt.

Objective

The project´s general objective is to achieve significant results in the different areas of research mentioned above. These results should in turn foster the ideal of a universal logic of law – an enterprise which on the background of the legal standardization of the European Union is not only desirable but even a necessity.