Kelsen and natural law theory

an enduring critical affair

Pierluigi Chiassoni

pp. 275-301

in: Peter Langford, Ian Bryan, John McGarry (eds), Kelsenian legal science and the nature of law, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

In a series of essays published from the late 1920s up to the mid-1960s, Hans Kelsen carries out a radical critique of natural law theory. The present paper purports to provide an analytical reconstruction and a critical assessment of such critique. It contains two parts. Part one surveys the fundamentals of Kelsen's argumentative strategy against natural law and its theorists. Part two considers, in turn, two critical reactions to Kelsen's criticisms: by Edgar Bodenheimer, on behalf of traditional natural law theory; by Robert P. George, on behalf of "the new natural law theory". As the analysis suggests, Kelsen's critique stands up to such criticisms.

Cited authors

Kelsen Hans

Bodenheimer Edgar