Soft Normativity as a Matter of Degree and as a Binary
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5347/63/2025/845Keywords:
similarity, gradable adjectives, comparison, classification, legalization, entrenchment, relevanceAbstract
In the context of jurisprudential debates, the term “soft law” has been utilized in a variety of ways that often defy comparison. Consequently, the stances within the hard versus soft law controversy exhibit significant diversity and nuance. To narrow down the range of conceptual options for the jurisprudential use of the term “soft”, the analysis focuses on the semantic and metaphysical intricacies of pairs of antonymous adjectives like “soft” and “hard” in partial departure from available interpretations of the word “soft” in legal and jurisprudential discourse. By provisionally suppressing these legal connotations the analysis will avail itself of the taxonomic insights provided by Rudolph Carnap’s tripartite distinction between classificatory, comparative, and quantitative (scientific) concepts. In applying this taxonomic framework, occasional digressions will be made to explore how the attribution of “softness” to legal norms or legal instruments can vary in its literalness depending on whether “softness” is understood as a qualitative property of legal artifacts (i.e., as a way for a legal artifact to be), as a dispositional property of legal processes of lawmaking, enforcement, or adjudication, or, alternatively, as a dimension along which particular legal artifacts or processes exhibit varying characteristics other than softness proper.
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