O arcaísmo na formação jurídica brasileira

Abstract

Law students, following an old 19th century tradition, are taught to deal with three central problems of legal theory: the identification of what law is, its interpretation and its application. For accomplishing such task they are offered concepts, classifications, and distinctions meant to build tools for dealing with those problems. They are offered, for instance, the concepts of validity, effectiveness and revocation to tackle the identification problem; the distinction between the immanent sense of the law (voluntas legis) and the will of the law-maker (voluntas legislatoris) to deal with the problem of the meaning of law; and the formula of the syllogism encompassing the major premise (valid law), the minor premise (proven facts), and a conclusion (decision) to justify a decision.