Kelsenian Legal Science and the Nature of Law

<p>This book critically examines the conception of legal science and the nature of law developed by Hans Kelsen. It provides a single, dedicated space for&nbsp;a range of established European scholars to engage with the influential work of this Austrian jurist, legal philosopher, and political philosopher.</p><p>The introduction provides a thematization of the Kelsenian&nbsp;notion of law as a legal science. Divided into six parts, the chapter contributions feature distinct levels of analysis. Overall, the structure of the&nbsp;book provides&nbsp;a&nbsp;sustained&nbsp;reflection upon central aspects of Kelsenian legal science and the nature of law.</p><p>Parts one and two examine the validity of the project of Kelsenian legal science with particular reference to the social fact thesis,&nbsp;the notion of a science of positive law and&nbsp;the specifically Kelsenian concept of the basic norm (Grundnorm</i>). The next three parts engage in a critical analysis of&nbsp;the relationship of Kelsenian legal science to constitutionalism, practical reason, and human rights.</p><p>The last part involves an examination of the continued pertinence of Kelsenian legal science as a theory of the nature of law with a particular focus upon contemporary&nbsp;non-positivist theories of law. The conclusion discusses the increasing distance of contemporary theories of legal positivism&nbsp;from a Kelsenian&nbsp;notion of legal science in its consideration of the nature of law.</p><p></p>