Langdell conceived law as a science whose primary sources are printed cases

Evidence

There was a theory behind Langdell’s method. He believed that law was a “science”; it had to be studied scientifically, that is, inductively, through primary sources. These sources were the printed cases; they expressed, in manifold dress, the few, ever-​evolving and fructifying principles on which the common law rested. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3519

Categorization

• DEFINE: Captures the core epistemological claim of the Langdellian case method that reshaped all American legal education.
• XREF: This ‘law as science’ framing connects to chapter 48’s practical-literature thread and to the book’s recurring theme of legal reasoning. — connects to: Langdell’s legal science was geometric deduction from cases, not empirical observation — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3543; Langdell’s curriculum excluded statutory and constitutional law as unscientific — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3528; Langdell’s legal-science ideas made late-century legal scholarship inbred and free of social commentary. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3584 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Langdell’s legal science was geometric deduction from cases, not empirical observation #expands (0.90) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3543
• Langdell’s legal-science ideas made late-century legal scholarship inbred and free of social commentary. #expands (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3584
• Langdell’s curriculum excluded statutory and constitutional law as unscientific #expands (0.80) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3528
• Common law rules arise from comparing cases, not from tracing prior logic #qualifies (0.80) — Burton, Steven J, An Introduction to Law and Legal…, 222