ABSTRACT
If antinomy lies at the heart of law, pushing in one direction to the socio-historical as its basis, a philosophy is required that can explain this. The philosophy I find most able to do this is critical realism with its emphasis on the idea of a ‘depth ontology’. This idea explains the ways in which social phenomena are grounded in underlying processes, structures and conditions. Critical realism also has a developed dialectical form (dialectical critical realism) which is well-suited to deal with the contradictory, antinomial quality of law while retaining a focus on its sociohistorical grounding. Here, I will say something about the idea of a depth ontology and dialectical critical realism.
