this is the essence of legal-rational authority.

契约法正是法理型权威的本质所在
Well why does he study law?

那涂尔干为什么要研究法律?
I don't want to elaborate on this too long.

我不想花太多时间详述这个问题
That's obvious-- that the legal system is the single best

很明显这种法律体系
measure of what he tries to get at,

是研究集体意识的最优途径
collective conscience, which can be studied the most objectively.

通过这一途径可以对其进行最客观的研究
There are law books and legal practices and minutes of

因为不仅有法律书籍和法律事件
recordings how the courts operated,

有大段法庭运作的记录可供研究
and how law was made and implemented,

还有有关法律是如何制定和运作的记录
which can be studied with a great level of rigor.

所有这些都可以用于最严谨的研究
For instance, it's very easy to study whether

比如要研究契约法是否真的是一种
indeed contractual law is a new form of law.

法律新形式就相当容易