From Chess to Courtesy

Ronald Dworkin and Contemporary Legal Philosophy

Ronaldo P. Macedo Jr.

• Publisher: Editora Dialética
• Year: 2025
• Topic: Law
• eBook ISBN:
  9786527070191
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

What if law is less like a game of fixed rules and more like a practice of interpretation and judgment? In From Chess to Courtesy, Ronaldo Porto Macedo Jr. offers a clear, timely guide to Ronald Dworkin's legacy and to the "methodological turn" in legal theory. Revisiting the Hart–Dworkin debate with didactic rigor, the book explains why legal reasoning is inherently argumentative and principled, not merely rule-following. Along the way, it maps core themes—objectivity and truth in law, the role of principles, theoretical disagreement, and the limits of legal positivism—bridging insights from philosophy of language, hermeneutics, and adjudication. Written in accessible prose, From Chess to Courtesy is an essential roadmap for students, researchers, and practitioners who want to read Dworkin carefully, move beyond superficial takes, and adopt a coherent methodology for interpreting law today. Ideal for courses in legal theory, philosophy of law, and legal methodology.

Table of contents

• Capa
• Folha de Rosto
• Página de Créditos
• New Preface to From Chess to Courtesy
• Acknowledgements
• Summary
• Introduction – GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE WORK
• Chapter 1: Law and Philosophy – A NEW AGENDA IN THE THEORETICAL-LEGAL DEBATE
• Chapter 2 – THE METHODOLOGICAL TURN AND THE THEORY OF LAW
• Chapter 3 – TOWARDS THE HERMENEUTIC OF LEGAL PRACTICES: WEBER AND HART
• Chapter 4 – THE CHALLENGE TO POSITIVISM
• Chapter 5 – DWORKIN AND THE THEORY OF INTERPRETATION
• Chapter 6 – DWORKIN’S NEW CONCEPTOGRAPHY
• Conclusion
• References
• Postscript – ELIMINATIVISM AND THE CRITIQUE OF ESSENTIALISM