ABSTRACT
A methodology for jurisprudence, or legal theory, with a status independent of the actual jurisprudential inquiry has the potential to supply a capstone to crown the construction of a magnificent pyramid. The pyramid image does itself take certain things for granted, notably that human beings and their potential for forming social relations exist on the ground and that the methodology of theory is somewhere up in the air. An obvious alternative path to establishing a relationship between theory and methodology is through the subject matter of the theory. This chapter concentrates on Ronald Dworkin's attempts to invoke methodology in promoting his theory against those of his adversaries. As generous as their methodology appears to be—clearly, generous enough to allow a supportive methodology for positivism outside the hostile fork of Dworkin's alternatives—it is important to recognise the constraint which is imposed by the approach taken by Jules Coleman and Ori Simchen.
