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Abstract: Legal realism and cognitive-behavioral studies share an interest in studying empirically how individuals think and behave. For both, focusing on the actual people who practice, argue about, interpret, and implement international law is essential to explaining how international law works. The two approaches can thus mutually enrich one another; marrying legal realism’s empiricism and pragmatism with cognitive-behavioral studies’ rigor can be powerful and seductive.
But in sharpening each other’s focus, legal realism and cognitive-behavioral studies may also amplify each other’s blind spots. Considering related critiques of both legal realist and cognitive scientific approaches to international law that emphasize instrumentalism at the expense of normativity, this chapter reaffirms the importance of legal realism’s characteristic pluralism, openness, and capacity for self-critique. Those values, the chapter argues, can provide a path forward for a partnership between legal realism and cognitive-behavioral studies that remains true to the objectives and values of each.
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