Modelling Value-Oriented Legal Reasoning
At its core, DNG is built on the premise that law reflects and realizes a balance between socially embedded values, which can themselves be rationally justified. In this view, the fundamental function of law lies in mediating between four key normative poles of social orders (individualistic) “FREEDOM”, (collectivistic) “SECURITY”, (functionalistic) “UTILITY” and (idealistic) “EQUALITY”. As a socio-legal institution also the justification of and controversial debate over debt and debt deliberation could be reconstructed within this “political” grammar.
A central challenge of the DNG model is to determine whether, and on what grounds, these values can be reasonably defended as foundational to institutionalized social (legal) orders, e.g. debt regimes. Against this backdrop, an interdisciplinary approach offers significant potential to enrich legal and philosophical analysis. By incorporating empirical research on the moral beliefs of groups and societies, and by engaging with related fields sucs moral psychology, anthropology, sociology, and neuroscience, DNG opens itself to broader sources of normative insight.