Abstract
Inaugural lecture--Faculty of Law, Rand Afrikaans University, 23 October 1986
Legal methodology investigates the methods adopted by lawyers to create order out of the mass of legal material at their disposal and to test the validity of judicial pronouncements. It involves an appraisal of the role played by logic and experience in creating and developing legal science. This paper attempts to provide an historical perspective on the nature and development of legal method, from the dawn of legal thought in Rome, to the beginning of the seventeenth century, when Roman-Dutch jurisprudence entered its golden age. Of great importance in the development of legal method, is the influence on legal thought of the Greek theory of science, more especially dialectic. The meaning and characteristics of dialectic (as interpreted by Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Cicero) are discussed, its influence in creating a Roman legal science is traced, and the essence of Roman legal casuistry in the classical period is described. Thereafter an analysis is provided of the underlying causes for the emergence of a dialectical jurisprudence in the Middle Ages, and its essential features are discussed. Finally, the paper deals with the emphasis placed on legal method in the sixteenth century and the efforts to bring about a ius civile in artem redactum, which led to a restructuring of legal thought and paved the way for the legal systematics of subsequent centuries. Throughout, an attempt is made to illustrate the importance of legal method in the evolution of law.