What is a good book? Epistemic virtues and the role of originality in Brazilian public law scholarship (1820s - 1889)

Abstract

Which virtues and vices 19th century Brazilian public opinion used to evaluate legal books and scholars? The paper analyzed the texts published in Brazilian newspapers commenting on books of public law, which are called “evaluation literature”, to answer this question. Major virtues were: utility, clarity, method, moderation; minor ones were: originality, experience, abnegation etc. This chart of values can be derived from the objectives of Brazilian legal scholarship of the time: not an academic discipline defined by research, but a technical discourse aimed at professional instruction and public intervention.

Keywords

• originality
• research
• legal culture
• legal epistemology
• Brazilian law