Scandinavian Realism
- Theory
- Scandinavian Realism
- Jurist
- Axel Hagerstrom
- Description
Scandinavian Realism, founded by Axel Hagerstrom, holds that legal concepts like rights and duties have no objective existence — they are psychological phenomena, a kind of 'word magic' that produces a feeling of being bound. Rejecting all metaphysical and moral assumptions, it analyses law empirically as social facts of power and behaviour, distinguishing it from American Realism's focus on court behaviour.