The Foundation of the Juridico-Political ─ Concept Formation in Hans Kelsen and Max Weber

Addressing the foundation of the concept of the juridico-political in the work of Hans Kelsen and Max Weber, this book provides an important re-assesment of the usual distinction between legal positivism and the sociology of law. The work of Kelsen and Weber is usually understood as representing what are normally taken to be these two radically distinct approaches to the study of law. Focusing upon the respective theoretical foundations of their work, the contributors to this volume re-examine this assumption: exploring both the convergences and divergences in Kelsen’s and Weber’s engagement with the German philosophical movement of Neo-Kantianism, as well in as their attempt to move beyond academic philosophy – to, respectively, Freud and Nietzsche. In uncovering the complexity of the relationship between Kelsen and Weber, the The Foundation of the Juridico-Political blurs the conventional division between legal positivism and the sociology of law; thus offering new possibilities of a dialogue between these two approaches.