Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Introduction
- I 1870–1914
- 1 Positivism, Idealism, and Pragmatism
- 2 Psychology and Philosophy
- 3 Logic, mathematics, and judgement
- 4 Philosophy and the new physics
- 5 The idea of social science
- 6 Ethics, politics, and legal theory
- 18 Utilitarians and idealists
- 19 Nietzsche
- 20 The new realism in ethics
- 21 Individualism vs. collectivism
- 22 Marxism and anarchism
- 23 Legal theory
- 7 Philosophy of religion and art
- Interlude
- II 1914–1945
- Biobibliographical appendix
- Bibliography
- INDEX
- References
23 - Legal theory
from 6 - Ethics, politics, and legal theory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
Edited by
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Introduction
- I 1870–1914
- 1 Positivism, Idealism, and Pragmatism
- 2 Psychology and Philosophy
- 3 Logic, mathematics, and judgement
- 4 Philosophy and the new physics
- 5 The idea of social science
- 6 Ethics, politics, and legal theory
- 18 Utilitarians and idealists
- 19 Nietzsche
- 20 The new realism in ethics
- 21 Individualism vs. collectivism
- 22 Marxism and anarchism
- 23 Legal theory
- 7 Philosophy of religion and art
- Interlude
- II 1914–1945
- Biobibliographical appendix
- Bibliography
- INDEX
- References
Summary
LEGAL POSITIVISM IN ENGLAND, THE CONSTRUCTIVIST COUNTERPART IN GERMANY, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE INTEREST THEORY
Although Thomas Hobbes can be read as arguing that the obligations of the citizen are to be understood normatively, that is to say, in terms of an initial agreement to create and then to obey the sovereign, a later doctrine of sovereignty and obligation, grounded solely in matters of fact, carried the day in Britain. The paradigm of that doctrine, in both form and influence, is found in the legal philosophy of John Austin.
In his Lectures on Jurisprudence (1861–3), Austin refers more frequently to German treatises on pandect law than to the English case law. Still, it would be a mistake to cast him as a Romanist or pandectist rather than as the philosophically inclined English jurist he was. On his central doctrines of command and sovereignty in particular, the greatest influence stems from Jeremy Bentham. And this is hardly surprising. Austin, in Sarah Austin’s words, ‘looked up to [Bentham] with profound veneration’ as ‘the most original and inventive of all writers on Law’ (Ross 1893: 382).
Austin’s command doctrine captures the idea that directives or laws exist ‘by position’ (Austin 1861–3 [1885: 87, 171]), reflecting a power relation, that is, a relation between superior and inferior. The factual underpinnings of the power relation are clear: ‘[T]he term superiority signifies might: the power of affecting others with evil or pain, and of forcing them, through fear of that evil, to fashion their conduct to one’s wishes’ (1861–3 [1885: 96]). Applied to positive laws, Austin’s doctrine has it that commands are general, speaking to a class of acts or forbearances, and that the superior in the power relation is a political superior – most obviously the sovereign itself.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Philosophy 1870–1945 , pp. 309 - 318Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003
References
(1861–3). The Province of Jurisprudence Determined and Lectures on Jurisprudence, 3 vols., London: . Reprinted 1885, 5th edn, 2 vols., ed. , London: J. Murray.Google Scholar
(1931). Review of , Der römische Obligationsrecht im Lichte der allgemeinen römischen Rechtsanschauung (The Roman Concept of Obligation in Light of the General Roman View of the Law) (1927), Kritische Vierteljahrsschrift für Gesetzgebung und Rechtswissenschaft, 24Google Scholar
(1939). ‘Axel Hägerström. Eine Studie zur schwedischen Philosophie der Gegenwart’ (‘Axel Hägerström. A Study of Contemporary Swedish Philosophy’), Göteborgs Högskolas Årsskrift, 45Google Scholar
(1863–1913). Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht (The German Law of Associations), 4 vols., Berlin: Weidmann. Trans. 1990 , Community in Historical Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (selections from vol. I). Trans. 1900 , Political Theories of the Middle Ages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (a selection from vol. III). Trans. 1977 , Associations and the Law. The Classical and Early Christian Stages, Toronto: University of Toronto Press (another selection from vol. III). Trans. 1934 , Natural Law and the Theory of Society 1500 to 1800, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (a selection from vol. IV).Google Scholar
(1874). ‘Die Grundbegriffe des Staatsrechts und die neueren Staatsrechtstheorien’ (‘The Fundamental Concepts of State Law and the Newer Theories of State Law’), Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft, 30. Repr. 1915 as a book, Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr.Google Scholar
(1880). Johannes Althusius und die Entwicklung der naturrechtlichen Staatstheorien (Johannes Althusius and the Development of Natural Law Theories of the State), Breslau: M. and N. Marcus. Trans. 1939 , The Development of Political Theory, New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
(1883a). Naturrecht und Deutsches Recht (Natural Law and German Law), Frankfurt: Rütter and Loening.Google Scholar
(1883b). ‘Labands Staatsrecht und die deutsche Rechtswissenschaft’ (‘Laband’s Theory of State Law, and German Legal Science’), Schmollers Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reiche, 7.Google Scholar
(1887). Die Genossenschaftstheorie und die deutsche Rechtsprechung (The Theory of Associations, and Adjudication in Germany), Berlin: Weidmann.Google Scholar
(1902). Das Wesen der menschlichen Verbände (The Nature of Human Associations), Berlin: Gustav Schade.Google Scholar
(1922–3). ‘Otto v. Gierke als Rechtsphilosoph’ (‘Otto v. Gierke as Legal Philosopher’), Logos, 11Google Scholar
(1902). Kants Ethik im Verhältnis zu seinem erkenntnistheoretischen Grundgedanken (Kant'ps Ethics in Relation to his Fundamental Ideas in the Theory of Knowledge), Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
(1908). Das Prinzip der Wissenschaft, I. Die Realität (The Principle of Science, vol. I: Reality), Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
(1910). ‘Kritiska punkter i värdepsykologien’ (‘Critical Points in the Psychology of Valuation’) in Festskrift tillägnad E.O. Burman på hans 65–årsdag den 7 oktober 1910, Uppsala: Akademiska bokhandeln.Google Scholar
(1927). Der römische Obligationsbegriff im Lichte der allgemeinen römischen Rechtsanschauung (The Roman Concept of Obligation in Light of the General Roman View of the Law), vol. I, Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
(1929). ‘Axel Hägerstr öm’ in Die Philosophie der Gegenwart in Selbstdarstellungen (Contemporary Philosophy in Self-Portrayals), ed. , vol. VII, Leipzig: Felix Meiner. Trans. 1964 , ‘A Summary of My Philosophy’ in , Philosophy and Religion, London: George Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
(1935). ‘Begreppet viljeförklaring på privaträttens område’, Theoria, 1. Trans. 1953 , ‘The Conception of a Declaration of Intention in the Sphere of Private Law’ in , Inquiries into the Nature of Law and Morals, Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
(1955). Review of , Inquiries into the Nature of Law and Morals (1953), Philosophy, 30Google Scholar
(1932). Begriffsbildung und Interessenjurisprudenz, Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr. Trans. 1948 , ‘The Formation of Concepts and the Jurisprudence of Interests’ in The Jurisprudence of Interests, ed. , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
(1896–7). ‘The Path of the Law’, Harvard Law Review, 10 Reprinted 1920 in Collected Legal Papers, New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Howe.Google Scholar
(1905). Lochner v New York (dissenting opinion), United States Reports, vol. 198, at Reprinted 1992 in The Essential Holmes, ed. , Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
(1852–65). Geist des römischen Rechts (Spirit of the Roman Law), 3 parts (the second of which is divided into two volumes): pt 1 (1852), pt 2 (1854), pt 2.2 (1858), pt 3 (1865), Leipzig: Breitkopf and Härtel. Repr. 1891, 1894, 1898, 1906.Google Scholar
(1872). Der Kampf um’s Recht, Vienna: G. J. Manz. Trans. 1924 , The Struggle for Law, New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
(1877, 1884). Der Zweck des Rechts (The Purpose of the Law), 2 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf and Härtel. Trans. 1914 , Law as a Means to an End (vol. I only), Boston: Boston Book Co.Google Scholar
(1929). Review of , Der römische Obligationsrecht im Lichte der allgemeinen römischen Rechtsanschauung (The Roman Concept of Obligation in Light of the General Roman View of the Law) (1927), Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, romanistische Abteilung, 49Google Scholar
(1861). Ancient Law, London: . Repr. 1963, preface by , introduction and notes by , Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
(1875). Lectures on the Early History of Institutions, London: J. Murray. Repr. 1888, London: J. Murray.Google Scholar
(1838). ‘Bentham’, London and Westminster Review. Repr. 1875 in , Dissertations and Discussions, vol. I, London: Longmans, Green.Google Scholar
(1953). ‘Editor’s Preface’ in , Inquiries into the Nature of Law and Morals, Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
(1906). Maine, Ancient Law, with introduction and notes by , London: J. Murray. Reprinted 1963, preface by , Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
(1941). The Holmes-Pollock Correspondence, 2 vols., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
(1893). Three Generations of English Women (memoirs and correspondence), revised edn, London: T. Fisher Unwin.Google Scholar
(1995). American Legal Realism and Empirical Social Science, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
(1992). Geschichte des öffentlichen Rechts in Deutschland (History of Public Law in Germany), 3 vols., Munich: C. H. Beck (1988–99), vol. II: Staatsrechtslehre und Verwaltungsrecht 1800–1914 (Public Law Theory and Administrative Law 1800–1914).Google Scholar
(1920). Outlines of Historical Jurisprudence, 2 vols., London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(1991). ‘A Wake (or Awakening?) for Historical Jurisprudence’ in The Victorian Achievement of Sir Henry Maine. A Centennial Reappraisal, ed. , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar