Dworkin's moral hermeneutics and sociological theory

Abstract

As a leading contemporary legal theorist, Ronald Dworkin has been consequential and provocative with respect to the development of jurisprudence. This study selectively applies the general principles of Dworkin's work first to Max Weber's argument for the use of ideal types in the theory construction of social inquiry and then to Talcott Parsons's critique of utilitarianism as a viable theory of social action. The aim is to invigorate, from the vantage point of an interdisciplinary perspective, our understanding of the moral origins of sociological theory.