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Pareto's action theory is basically a transformation of positivistepistemology into sociology. Two positivist standpoints are involved, which wereboth rightly criticized by Karl Popper. They concern the problems of thedemarcation between science and metaphysics and of the origin of truth and error.Furthermore, one can find a deep structural analogy between theory and action inepistemological respects. One has to distinguish between an internalist and anexternalist component of Pareto's action theory. Considering the internalistcomponent, Pareto seems to be an underrated classic of action theory. Theexternalist component contains the two positivist standpoints.

"If I should call a sheep's tail a leg, how many legs would it have? Four, because calling a tail a leg would not make it so." This old quip, often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, captures an issue at the heart of the modern law of subject matter jurisdiction. Some believe that there is a Platonic ideal of jurisdiction that cannot be changed by judicial or legislative fiat. Others take a positivist approach and assert that jurisdiction is nothing more than whatever a legislature says it is. Who is right?Neither and both. Although neither idealism nor positivism is the best approach, a combination of both is. The law of jurisdiction in the United States, like all positive law, is a human creation and thus susceptible to modification by humans. If lawmakers want their jurisdictional sheep to have five legs, they are free to declare the tail a leg, and courts must heed that declaration. But lawmakers occasionally speak ambiguously. When courts encounter ambiguity—like a tail that may or may not be a leg—they should resolve the ambiguity in a way that affirms, rather than contradicts, the ideal.