ABSTRACT
This chapter asks what a sociological understanding of legal ideas involves. It argues that such an understanding is not only useful but necessary for legal studies. The chapter examines that the most powerful current critique of legal sociology does not deny that sociological inquiry can, in its own ways, explain aspects of legal doctrine. It argues rather that sociology has no privileged way of approaching legal ideas - no specially powerful insight which can prevail over others. The chapter addresses the issues raised above by analysing the two main apparent sources of difficulty to which these issues relate. The first of these is the nature of law's own 'truth' - its capacity to interpret the world in its own way. The second source of difficulty is the need to clarify what is meant by the effort to gain sociological understanding. The chapter shows that the most practical view of legal ideas is one informed by sociological insight.
