Ancora sulle "clausole generali". Teoria, meta-teoria e metodologia di una categoria dottrinale problematica

The paper surveys the concept of general clauses from a methodological point of view. After pointing out the main issues of the general clauses’ categorization and acknowledging the relationship that they have with different normative systems, the inquiry moves on with a “therapeutic” approach in order to analyze the several relations that may exist between a certain concept of general clauses and the metatheoretical world, especially by distinguishing between internal references, i.e. other parts of the legal system, and external references, i.e. institutional dimensions that are set extra iuris ordinem. At the end, it is claimed that an exchange between the strict theoretical inquiry of the general clauses and the observation of their use in the legal context may be mutually beneficial.