Widely regarded as the most important legal theorist of the twentieth century, Hans Kelsen is best known for his formulation of the "pure theory of law", - within which the study of international law was his special field of work. The present volume, "General Theory of Law and State", first published in 1945, allowed Kelsen to adjust his pure theory of law to American circumstances after World War II. It also afforded him the opportunity to present to English-speaking readers his latest ideas on the supremacy of international law. The volume is divided into two parts: the first devoted to law, the second to the state. Together these topics constitute the most systematic and comprehensive exposition of Kelsen's jurisprudence. The volume is not only a compendium of Kelsen's lifework up to that time; it is also an extension of his theories, "to embrace the problems and institutions of English and American law as well as those of the Civil Law countries". Indeed, references to Continental European law are minimal compared with examples, scattered throughout the text, taken from the U.S. Constitution and several American court cases. This is more than a concession to American readers; it signifies that Kelsen's legal theory is truly general in that it accounts for the Common Law as well as the Civil Law. A systematic treatise on jurisprudence, "General Theory of Law and State" is a substantial reformulation of Kelsen's ideas articulated in several of his previous books, written in German. The juridical principles put forth by the most important legal theorist of the twentieth century remain of great value. This volume will be read by legal scholars, political scientists, and intellectual historians.

THE CONTRADICTORY NATURE OF COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT Written during a tense period of the Cold War, this study observed that Bolshevism was a system that embraces anarchism in theory and totalitarianism in practice. In order to survive the Bolshevist state must obliterate the potentially destabilizing forces inherent in democracy through a party dictatorship that is presented as the political self-determination of a free people. "A deep-cutting analysis of some of the fundamental contradictions in Communist theory and practice, particularly in regard to democracy and the dictatorial function of the state." --Foreign Affairs 27 (1948-49) 679 Possibly the most influential jurisprudent of the twentieth century, Hans Kelsen 1881-1973] was legal adviser to Austria's last emperor and its first republican government, the founder and permanent advisor of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Austria and the author of Austria's Constitution, which was enacted in 1920, abolished during the Anschluss and restored in 1945. He was the author of more than forty books on law and legal philosophy. Active as a teacher in Europe and the United States, he was Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna and taught at the Universities of Cologne and Prague, the Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Harvard, Wellesley, the University of California at Berkeley and the Naval War College.

The influential jurist Hans Kelsen 1881-1973] here applies his concept of the distinction between society and nature. He shows how primitive man developed his interpretation of nature, through the laws of retribution and of causality, to a modern concept of nature and society. He holds that the gradual emancipation of the law of causality from the principle of retribution is "the emancipation from a social interpretation of nature. The process shows a relation between social and natural science which is very important from the point of view of intellectual history." (Introduction p. viii) Extensively annotated. Kelsen is known for his theory of pure positive law, as postulated in General Theory of Law and State, which is also available in a reprint edition from The Lawbook Exchange.

Arguably his most important work, Principles of International Law was published after Kelsen's retirement from the University of California at Berkeley in 1952. It is an important synthesis of Kelsen's earlier work on international law and jurisprudence. Any contribution by Professor Kelsen to international law is always welcome. This certainly applies to the book under review. It represents an attempt-which must be regarded as wholly successful-to apply to international law, in an introductory text-book not necessarily limited to specialists, many of Professor Kelsen's basic doctrines in the field of jurisprudence. In preparing this book the author has drawn on many of his previous writings on international law, but he has avoided the danger of putting before the reader a mere compilation of fragments. The very arrangement of the book is stimulating in its boldness and unorthodoxy. ( . . . ) It is] a model of precision and clarity and . . . a stimulus to thought. If for no other reason, this Introduction to International Law is an outstanding and fully successful attempt-of which there are but few-to present the entirety of the international law of peace within the framework of a jurisprudential system. --Hersch Lauterpacht, British Yearbook of International Law 29 (1952) 509, 513 Possibly the most influential jurisprudent of the twentieth century, HANS KELSEN 1881-1973] was legal adviser to Austria's last emperor and its first republican government, the founder and permanent advisor of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Austria, and the author of Austria's Constitution, which was enacted in 1920, abolished during the Anschluss, and restored in 1945. He was the author of more than forty books on law and legal philosophy. Active as a teacher in Europe and the United States, he was Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna and taught at the universities of Cologne and Prague, the Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Harvard, Wellesley, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Naval War College.

Eric Voegelin is famous as a philosopher of history and a as one of the most eminent political scientists of the 20th century. His most fundamental work on political theory, the "New Science of Politics, is nowadays considered a classic in ist field. While the "New Science" has always been a very controversial book, ist critics have hardly ever taken the pain to pinpoint the weaknesses they condemmed Voegelins book for. There is, however, one exception: Only shortly after the appearance of Voegelins "New Science" in 1954, Hans Kelsen has written a most detailed reply to this book of his former student. This reply, which was known to Voegelin and is mentioned in his autobiography, is now being published by the ontos verlag. Being a distinguished philosopher himself of an erudition and breadth of knowledge that matches that of Eric Voegelin, Hans Kelsen is able to support the critical stance he takes on Voegelin "New Science" by clear and well founded argument. This critical reply to Voegelins "New Science" is not only an important contribution to the dispute about the foundations of political order in modern society, but will also prove valuable to readers generally interested in Voegelins life and work.

First published in 1998.This is Volume XIV of eighteen in the Sociology of Behaviour and Psychology series. This text is concerned with sociological inquiry into society and nature. Written in 1946, it investigates the idea that society and nature, if conceived of as two different systems of elements, are the results of two different methods of thinking and are only as such two different objects. The same elements, connected with each other according to the principle of causality, constitute nature; connected with each other according to another, namely, a normative, principle, they constitute society

Reprint of the second revised and enlarged edition, being a completely revised version of the first edition which was published in 1934. Kelsen 1881-1973], was the author of more than forty works on law and legal philosophy, and is best known for this title and General Theory of Law and State. He was also the author of the Austrian Democratic Constitution, which was published in 1920, abolished during the Nazi regime, restored in 1945, and in force today. Walker calls Kelsen "possibly the most influential jurisprudent of the twentieth century." Walker, Oxford Companion to Law 699.

Originally published: Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957. vi], 397 pp. Through the lens of science, Hans Kelsen proposes a dynamic theory of natural law, examines Platonic and Aristotelian doctrines of justice and the idea of justice as found in the holy scriptures. "You simply cannot get around this book if you want a real understanding of the fundamental ideas on which the great work of Kelsen is built. Reading this volume you may once more admire the transparent clarity of style and the merciless consistency of reasoning which are well known qualities of this author." -- Alf Ross, 45 California Law Review 564 1957. Possibly the most influential jurisprudent of the twentieth century, Hans Kelsen 1881-1973] was legal adviser to Austria's last emperor and its first republican government, the founder and permanent advisor of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Austria, and the author of Austria's Constitution, which was enacted in 1920, abolished during the Anschluss, and restored in 1945. He was the author of more than forty books on law and legal philosophy. Active as a teacher in Europe and the United States, he was Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna and taught at the universities of Cologne and Prague, the Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Harvard, Wellesley, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Naval War College.

Hans Kelsen is widely recognized as one of the most important legal theorists of the 20th century. Surprisingly, however, his political writings are not nearly as widely known as his legal theory, especially in the English-speaking world. This book fills the void between what is and isn't known about Hans Kelsen's political philosophy, and the ways that philosophy has and will continue to shape political debates inherent to democracy in the future. For the first time in English, this classic book - with an introduction by political theorist Nadia Urbinati - provides an overview of Kelsen's career and his contributions to 20th century political thought.

The influential jurist Hans Kelsen 1881-1973] here applies his concept of the distinction between society and nature. He shows how primitive man developed his interpretation of nature, through the laws of retribution and of causality, to a modern concept of nature and society. He holds that the gradual emancipation of the law of causality from the principle of retribution is the emancipation froma social interpretation of nature. The process shows a relation between social and natural science which is very important from the point of view of intellectual history. (Introduction p. viii) Extensively annotated. Kelsen is known for his theory of pure positive law, as postulated in General Theory of Law and State, which is also available in a reprint edition from The Lawbook Exchange.

Widely regarded as the most important legal theorist of the twentieth century, Hans Kelsen is best known for his formulation of the "pure theory of law"--within which the study of international law was his special field of work. The present volume, General Theory of Law and State, first published in 1945, allowed Kelsen to adjust his pure theory of law to American circumstances after World War II. It also afforded him the opportunity to present to English-speaking readers his latest ideas on the supremacy of international law. The volume is divided into two parts: the first devoted to law, the second to the state. Together these topics constitute the most systematic and comprehensive exposition of Kelsen's jurisprudence.

The volume is not only a compendium of Kelsen's lifework up to that time; it is also an extension of his theories "to embrace the problems and institutions of English and American law as well as those of the Civil Law countries." Indeed, references to Continental European law are minimal compared with examples, scattered throughout the text, taken from the U.S. Constitution and several American court cases. This is more than a concession to American readers; it signifies that Kelsen's legal theory is truly general in that it accounts for the Common Law as well as the Civil Law. A systematic treatise on jurisprudence, General Theory of Law and State is a substantial reformulation of Kelsen's ideas articulated in several of his previous books, written in German.

The juridical principles put forth by the most important legal theorist of the twentieth century remain of great value. This volume will be read by legal scholars, political scientists, and intellectual historians.

Hans Kelsen is considered by many to be one of the foremost legal thinkers of the twentieth century. He made important contributions to many areas, but especially to legal theory and international law. Over a number of decades, he developed an important legal theory which found its first complete exposition in Reine Rechtslehre, 1934 (presently being translated by Stanley Paulson for OUP) and its fullest expression in the second edition of Reine Rechtslehre, 1960. During the last decade of his life he was working on what he called a general theory of norms. When he died in 1973, he left a lengthy manuscript, which was published in 1979 as Allgemeine Theorie der Normen. This book is the translation - General Theory of Norms. It is thus the last work of one of the most important legal theorists this century. In it, Kelsen develops his `pure theory of law' into a `general theory of norms'. In so doing, he provides a new basis for some of the positions he espoused earlier on, but also revises some of his earlier positions. The most important new topic is that of the applicability of logic to norms: Kelsen develops an original and extreme position some people have called `normative irrationalism'. In the book, Kelsen also examines the views of over 200 philosophers and legal theorists on law, morality and logic, ranging from Plato and Aristotle to contemporary thinkers.

A self-contained treatise, by one of the leading European legal philosophers of this century, on such topics as the legal norm, law and morality, the concept of the legal person, the legal system, legal interpretation, the identity of the law and state, and the theory of international law.

One of the leading legal philosophers of this century, Kelsen 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 identity of law and state, and the theory of international law. Among the appendices is an annotated bibliography of secondary literature on Kelsen.

Originally published: Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957. vi], 397 pp. Through the lens of science, Hans Kelsen proposes a dynamic theory of natural law, examines Platonic and Aristotelian doctrines of justice and the idea of justice as found in the holy scriptures. "You simply cannot get around this book if you want a real understanding of the fundamental ideas on which the great work of Kelsen is built. Reading this volume you may once more admire the transparent clarity of style and the merciless consistency of reasoning which are well known qualities of this author." -- Alf Ross, 45 California Law Review 564 1957. Possibly the most influential jurisprudent of the twentieth century, Hans Kelsen 1881-1973] was legal adviser to Austria's last emperor and its first republican government, the founder and permanent advisor of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Austria, and the author of Austria's Constitution, which was enacted in 1920, abolished during the Anschluss, and restored in 1945. He was the author of more than forty books on law and legal philosophy. Active as a teacher in Europe and the United States, he was Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna and taught at the universities of Cologne and Prague, the Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Harvard, Wellesley, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Naval War College.