The pure theory of law / by William Ebenstein.

Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, 1945.

reprint

184

Jurisprudence.

Law -- Philosophy.

Introduction

I. Philosophical basis of the theory

II. Nature, law, and society

III. Natural law and legal positivism

IV. The unity of the law

V. Results of a "steps-and-stairs"

Theory of law

Index.

The cooperative efforts of scholars, thinkers, and jurists, of friends and critics, disciples and opponents, over a generation has established the Pure Theory of Law as the most influential juristic movement of the twentieth century. Its doctrines are not universally accepted, but many would agree with Dean Pound in characterizing its leader as "unquestionably the leading jurist of the time," and in assigning him a position in the history of legal philosophy equal to that of Kant in the history of philosophy. Both friends and opponents of the Pure Theory of Law have often described it as a typical product of Continental legal thinking steeped in liberalism and democracy. I shall try to show in this study in what sense some of the basic contributions of the Pure Theory of Law transcend the limitations of Continental legal ideas and prac- tices. In particular, I seek to demonstrate the manifold points of con- tact that the Pure Theory of Law has with the traditions and assumptions of the Common Law. - Extract from introduction.

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