Kelsen in the United States

still misunderstood

Brian H. Bix

pp. 17-29

in: Hans Kelsen in America, Berlin, Springer, 2016

Abstract

In American legal philosophy—even if one narrows one's focus to careful consideration of the sub-category, American analytical legal philosophy—the ideas of Hans Kelsen are generally ignored. And on the rare occasions when Kelsen's ideas are not ignored, they are almost always discussed quickly, and, more often than not, erroneously. Part I of this paper gives examples of Kelsen's works being overlooked, sample misreadings by prominent theorists, and considers some standard explanations for this indifference and ignorance. Part II turns to some more subtle (and controversial) questions of correct and incorrect readings, focusing on Kelsen's Basic Norm.

Cited authors

Kelsen Hans