Archival articles

Vol. 96 (2014)

Między aksjologią a ontologią dyskursu konstytucyjnego. Obiektywizacja wartości w prawie

Maciej Pichlak

Pages: 39 - 56

PDF (Język Polski)

Abstract

BETWEEN AXIOLOGY AND ONTOLOGY OF CONSTITUTIONAL DISCOURSE. OBJECTIVISATION OF VALUES IN LAW

The study analyses a process of the social objectivisation of values within constitutional discourse. Doing this, it exposes both reasons underlying the process under study, as well as some threats it poses. For this sake, it distinguishes between the objectivity of law — a relevant and constantly present value of the European legal culture — and objectivisation as a social process which results in perceiving symbolic constructions as neutral objects of quasi-natural kind. Particularly in the realm of axiological reflection, objectivisation causes serious doubts as to its practical outcomes. As an alternative, the paper recommends a wider adoption of a dialectical type of discourse — the one presented by Aristotle and more recently by Chaim Perelman. Dialectical discourse is claimed to secure the role of objectivity in law, while acknowledging the specificities of axiological reflection.