Kaleidoscopic Cultural Views and Legal Theory - Dethroning the Objectivity?

Abstract

This paper challenges the idea of universally neutral legal theory by building on central ideas of comparative study of law. It will be argued that global legal pluralism should have distinct effect on how to do legal theory. This is done through the help of metaphorical device of kaleidoscope, which is a heuristic tool for a better self-understanding of the legal theories’ meta-epistemic boundaries. Paper addresses archetypes of Western legal theory and defends a pluralist view accepting the significance of legal-cultural factors for legal theory. Importantly, it is argued that there is no ‘God’s eye’ view of law.