Introduction to the Problems of Legal Theory: A Translation of the First Edition of the Reine Rechtslehre or Pure Theory of Law

Product Description

One of the leading legal philosophers of this century, Kelsen first published this short treatise in 1934, when the neo-Kantian influence on his work was at its zenith. An earlier, “constructivist” phase had been displaced by his effort to provide something approximating a neo-Kantian
foundation for his theory. If this second phase represents the Pure Theory of Law in its most characteristic form, then the present treatise may well be its central text. And of Kelsen’s many statements of the Pure Theory, this one is surely the most accessible. Topics covered include the legal norm
and Kelsen’s normativity thesis, law and morality, the role of ideology, the concept of the legal person, legal interpretation, the identities of law and state, and the theory of international law. Among the appendices is an annotated bibliography of secondary literature on Kelsen.

About the Author

Hans Kelsen
Translated by
Bonnie Litschewski Paulson and
Stanley L. Paulson, Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy, Washington University