Philosophical Analysis and Historical Inquiry
This chapter considers the relationship between philosophical analysis and historical inquiry, including the specific virtues that historical inquiry brings, what is lost when theorizing is restricted to philosophical analysis, and why this all matters for theorizing law and legal thought. In other words, the chapter attempts to articulate how historical inquiry is generative theoretically and how it can exist, as part of the broader activity of theorizing, in fruitful tension with philosophical analysis. The approach is based on a particular concept of historical inquiry and its resulting historical insights, which is presented in the first part of the chapter. The second part offers some illustrations of the value of historical inquiry for theorizing law and legal thought.