Au-delà de l’histoire du droit. Retour sur la trajectoire d’un entrepreneur scientifique, Henri Lévy-Bruhl (1884-1964)

Abstract

This paper attempts to understand the scientific career of Henri Lévy-Bruhl, which took place in the first half of the Twentieth century, when French legal history was in construction (objects, methods). It tries to understand the consequences of the evolution of this discipline upon the career of Levy-Bruhl, who devoted his works to legal history and to sociology of law. It aims to show how, while being recognized, he also has been considered as an “heretic”, employing practices in contradiction with the dominant scientific representations.

Keywords

• Lévy-Bruhl Henri (1884-1964)
• sociology
• legal history
• discipline
• 20th century