The main aim of the current paper is to analyze the philosophical foundations of originalism. Legal scholars are facing a new trend: the growing belief that originalism and legal positivism not only overlap but, to a very considerable extent, complement each other. The issue has become urgent: several EU courts have recently endorsed an originalist approach in leading cases, by ascribing a key-role to historical argument; the appointments of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court have already begun to prompt a return to discussions over this issue. Is the connection of originalism with legal positivism conceptually possible? What sort of benefits would it yield? These are the questions I intend to answer with this paper.
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