Theorization and Modelling of Law. A Unifying Approach Based on Cybernetics, Cognitive Science and Complexity

Abstract

This paper is part of a larger project —a theory of Law— which purports to use concepts of systems theory, complexity and cybernetics in order to create models of legal behavior that can be subject to computer simulation and modeling, thus making theory and practice more relatable to each other. Because of space constrains, two models of Law are proposed: one on how knowledge about Law, Justice and the Rule of Law is created and circulates, and one on what norms are and how they are implemented, along with a brief notion of who are its subjects. The work offered in this study is correlated with the Law and Society approach to legal empiricism and concludes that theory and practice hold a recursive relation: theory without a practical referent is fiction and practice without theory is blind development; computer modeling is a way to further the complementary relationship that both ought to hold.