The College of Law at the University of Al-Qadisiyah organized an academic lecture entitled “The Philosophy of Scientific Research” for master’s and doctoral students. The lecture was delivered by Professor Dr. Mohammed Sulaiman Al-Ahmed, Professor of Civil Law at the University of Sulaimani and Head of the Research Center at the Ministry of Justice in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The speaker was introduced by the Dean of the College, Professor Dr. Nidham Gabbar Talib.
The lecture explored the intellectual foundations of scientific research and their role in developing critical awareness among legal researchers. It emphasized that the value of research lies not in the volume of information collected, but in the researcher’s ability to identify a problem worthy of investigation, formulate precise questions, and construct a scholarly argument that makes a contribution to knowledge open to discussion and evaluation.
With particular reference to legal scholarship, the lecture highlighted the importance of moving beyond presenting legislative provisions and scholarly opinions to examining their underlying foundations and assessing their consistency with the purposes of legal regulation and its practical application. A legal provision serves as a starting point for examining a problem; studying it requires an understanding of its rationale, the limits of its interpretation, the consequences of adopting one interpretation over another, and its capacity to achieve justice, protect rights, and ensure stability in legal transactions.
The philosophical discussion also addressed the relationship between law and social reality, stressing the importance of distinguishing between describing existing law, evaluating it, and proposing reforms. This requires methodological clarity, conceptual precision, coherence between premises and conclusions, and the use of comparative legal analysis to understand why legal solutions differ and under what conditions they may inform the development of the national legal system.
The lecture underscored the importance of fostering intellectual independence and academic integrity among postgraduate students, while strengthening their ability to question assumptions, test arguments, and reconsider conclusions in light of evidence. These qualities contribute to preparing researchers with a critical legal perspective whose studies address practical problems and advance legislation, judicial reasoning, and legal knowledge.
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