Analytical Jurisprudence: Conceptual Framework

The subject of the study is the problem of defining the conceptual boundaries of analytical jurisprudence. In Anglo-American legal science, there is a well-established position recognised division into two stages in the development of analytical jurisprudence. The leader of the first stage is J. Austin, the founder of analytical jurisprudence, and the key figure of the second stage is H. L. A. Hart. At the same time, it is noted that scientific projects belonging to the first and second stages have fundamental differences. In this connection, in the present article the fundamental characteristics of analytical jurisprudence are identified through a comparative analysis of its projects presented in the works of the main representatives of the respective stages. The main method in the study is the interpretive method, which includes the method of problem-theoretical reconstruction. Through its application it is possible to reconstruct the theoretical provisions that determine the continuity between the two stages of analytical jurisprudence. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that it focuses on the common elements of the two stages in the development of analytical jurisprudence, which calls into question the absolute differentiation between them accepted in Anglo-American legal thought. In this regard, the study substantiates that the founding elements of analytical jurisprudence are its general and descriptive character, as well as positivist legal understanding. At the same time, the article shows that (1) the actual identification of conceptual analysis and analytical jurisprudence does not allow us to reliably explicate the continuity between the stages of analytical jurisprudence and identify analytical jurisprudence as an independent direction of research; (2) the exclusion of legal positivism from the identifying characteristics of analytical jurisprudence causes the risk of absorption of analytical jurisprudence as a legal science by philosophical discourse.