Abstract

Notwithstanding their profound differences from the epistemic point of view, sociology of law and legal philosophy might and perhaps ought to be complementary, just because the former can provide the factual bases for philosophical inquiry. According to the idea that a scientific branch can be better defined by its function than through an inquiry on its proper nature, the paper suggests that its interdisciplinary character may allow the sociology of law to constitute the focus or maybe the bridge between all normative sciences included legal sciences, a role which could be played also by legal philosophy.