Hans Kelsen on the Relation of the Theory of the State and Theology Cover Image

Nauka o państwie a teologia w ujęciu Hansa Kelsena
Hans Kelsen on the Relation of the Theory of the State and Theology

Author(s): Arkadiusz Górnisiewicz
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Political Theory, Political Sciences
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: Hans Kelsen; theory of the state; theology

Summary/Abstract: The paper pays attention to the theological‑political themes in the thought of an Austrian lawyer and philosopher Hans Kelsen (1881‑1973). It especially aims to explore one of the lesser known aspects of his legal theory that is the parallelism between theology and the Staatslehre. I attempt to reconstruct the numerous structural analogies between theology and the legal and political theory discussed in various Kelsen’s works. By focusing on these analogies, I am trying to understand their place and meaning within Kelsen’s Pure Theory of Law. I claim that they constitute a preliminary tough indispensable part of Kelsen’s effort to construct a theory that completely identifies the state and the legal order and to do away with the influence of theology and metaphysics.

  • Issue Year: 13/2016
  • Issue No: 45
  • Page Range: 87-107
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish