In the research, the views of Sadri Maksudi Arsal (1880-1957), one of the important figures in the history of Turkish thought, statesman, linguist, historian, jurist, sociologist-nationality theorist, on theoretical-methodological issues such as the subject, method, purpose of the general theory of law, its relationship with other close fields of science (philosophy of law and sociology), its importance in legal education are examined, and his contributions to the field are determined. The book titled General Fundamentals of Law (Positive Philosophy of Law) of the thinker is evaluated in comparison with their national and foreign counterparts, both diachronically and synchronously, in the context of the intellectual traditions of the discipline and in terms of conceptual approach, as well as their importance in terms of its impact on the subsequent development of the field is explained.

Based on the results achieved in this study, Sadri Maksudi Arsal’s views on the theoretical-methodological problems of the general theory of law can be generally expressed as follows: 

1. Although there are some contradictions or ambiguities in Sadri Maksudi Arsal’s legal views, he generally put forward a positivist approach regarding the conceptual problems of the general theory of law. He particularly emphasizes that this discipline has a positive science character based on reality.

2. According to Arsal, unlike other branches of legal science that talk about a certain field of law, the subject of general theory of law consists of “all general principles and all legal institutions known in the field of law that are fundamental in the legal science”.

3. As claimed by Arsal, like a positive branch of science, general theory of law also uses positive methods. Its main method is inductive.

4. Thinker explains the purpose of the general theory of law primarily from an educational perspective and particularly emphasizes its importance in legal education.

5. In accordance with Arsal, who sets out from the distinction between philosophy of law in the “narrow sense” (philosophy of law proper) and in the “broad sense” (it is a term that covers not one but several disciplines), general theory of law is a form of philosophy of law in the “broad sense”, but “a positive form.” Therefore, the author refers to this in the subtitle given to the work, calling it “positive philosophy of law.” According to Sadri Maksudi, although philosophy of law in the “narrow sense” and general theory of law are very close in terms of subject matter, they are different in terms of research method, spirit and tendency.

6. Sadri Maksudi, who explains the close relationship between general law theory and sociology by the fact that both of them are connected to social life, emphasizes that despite such a close relationship, law, which is the science of the rules of social life, should not be confused with sociology, which is the science of the events of social life. Arsal objects to scholars who regard general legal theory as a sub-branch of sociology rather than a separate and independent branch of science. Nevertheless, general legal theory should use the methods and materials of sociology, and at the same time examine all issues within its subject, not exclusively from a legal perspective, but also from the perspective of social life and sociology. 

The comparative analysis of Sadri Maksudi Arsal’s work titled General Fundamentals of Law (Positive Philosophy of Law) allowed us to reach the following conclusions regarding its nature and character:

While the previous attempts, which were not so many, were presented only in the form of introductory lecture notes to law, Arsal, for the first time in the Turkish legal literature, made an effort to cover the field in a scientific manner and produced a study whose originality is beyond doubt. After this study, such a detailed approach to the theoreticalmethodological problems of the field cannot be observed in any book published in Türkiye in this field. Important features of the book that should be noted are: its adequate methodological approach for the field; its distinctive way of dealing with the topics; its coverage of not only the Turkish legal system but also various legal systems in the world; its inclusion of some topics that are rarely encountered in today’s equivalents in the Turkish literature on the field; its taking into consideration the current literature, foreign sources in various languages written in this field. 

A comparison of Sadri Maksudi’s General Fundamentals of Law in terms of the logical systematic structure of the discipline and the topics it covers, with works that can be considered world classics in the field at that time (for example, Adolf Merkel’s Encyclopaedia of Law, Frederick Pollock’s A First Book of Jurisprudence for Students of Common Law, Josef Kohler’s and Gustav Radbruch’s books titled Introduction to the Science of Law), shows that the first one is not at all left behind from the last ones in terms of covering topics specific to general theory of law, and also reveals that it refrains from some negative features characteristic of the majority of introductory law books of that period (for example, a comprehensive summary of the branches of dogmatic law science, the distinction of the general part and the special part).

Sadri Maksudi’s work General Fundamentals of Law is the first systematic and, in many respects, a successful attempt in this field in Türkiye. Therefore, the author of this work deserves to be called not only the representative, but also the first and important scientific researcher of general theory of law in Türkiye. Arsal’s book, as an example, has made a great contribution to the development of the field and has had a great impact on subsequent studies and gave direction to them both in terms of approach to theoretical-methodological problems and in terms of systematics and elaboration of topics.