Legal positivism is one of the fundamental theories of jurisprudence studied in law and related fields around the world. This volume addresses how legal positivism is perceived and makes the case for why it is relevant for contemporary legal theory. The Cambridge Companion to Legal Positivism offers thirty-three chapters from leading scholars that provide a comprehensive commentary on the fundamental ideas of legal positivism, its history and major theorists, its connection to normativity and values, its current development and influence, as well as on the criticisms moved against it.
1. Introduction Torben Spaak and Patricia Mindus; Part I. Fundamentals: 2. Positivism, Realism, and Sources of Law Leslie Green; 3. Normative Legal Positivism Frederick Schauer; 4. Legal Positivism as a Realist Theory of Law Brian Leiter; Part II. History: 5. The German Tradition of Legal Positivism Stephan Kirste; 6. The French Tradition of Legal Positivism Michel Troper; 7. The Italian Tradition of Legal Positivism Ricardo Guastini; 8. The British Tradition of Legal Positivism Gerald J. Postema; Part III. Central Figures: 9. Jeremy Bentham and the Origins of Legal Positivism Philip Schofield; 10. John Austin Michael Lobban; 11. The Normative Power of the Factual – Georg Jellinek's Phenomenological Theory of Reflective Legal Positivism Jens Kersten; 12. Hans Kelsen's Non-Reductive Positivism Michael S. Green; 13. The Legal Positivism of H. L. A. Hart Matthew Kramer; 14. From Savigny to Linguistic Analysis: Legal Positivism through Bobbio's Eyes Pierluigi Chiassoni; 15. Joseph Raz's Approach to Legal Positivism Brian Bix; 16. Bulygin's Analytical Legal Positivism María Cristina Redondo; Part IV. Main Tenets: 17. Social-Practice Legal Positivism and the Normativity Thesis Stefano Bertea; 18. Social Facts and Legal Facts: Perils of Hume's Guillotine Tomasz Gizbert-Studnicki; 19. The Scope of Legal Positivism: Validity and Interpretation? Torben Spaak; 20. What Is Law and What Counts as Law? The Separation Thesis in Context Andrei Marmor; 21. The Origins of Inclusive Legal Positivism W. J. Waluchow; 22. Disruptive Implications of Legal Positivism's Social Efficacy Thesis Brian Z. Tamanaha; 23. The Semantic Thesis in Legal Positivism Michael S. Green; Part V. Normativity and Values: 24. Legal Positivism and Metaethics Kevin Toh; 25. The Normativity of Law Brian Bix; 26. An Italian Path to Legal Positivism: Ferrajoli's Garantismo J.J. Moreso; Part VI. Critique: 27. Gustav Radbruch's Critique of Legal Positivism Martin Borowski; 28. Good Order and Workable Arrangements: Lon Fuller's Critique of Legal Positivism Kenneth Winston; 29. Dworkin's Criticism of Hart's Positivism Dennis Patterson; 30. Tracing Finnis's Criticism of Hart's Internal Point of View: Instability and the 'Point' of Human Action in Law Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco; 31. Alexy's Critique of Legal Positivism Jan Sieckmann; 32. Mark Greenberg on Legal Positivism Barbara Levenbook; 33. Positivism and Totalitarianism David Dyzenhaus.
Torben Spaak is Professor of Jurisprudence, Department of Law, Stockholm University. Patricia Mindus is Professor in Practical Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Uppsala University.
Reviews for The Cambridge Companion to Legal Positivism
'This excellent addition to the 'Cambridge Companions to Law' series [...] plays a critical role in grounding legal positivism within current trends and reaffirming its continued relevance ... Under the keen editorial guidance of Spaak (Stockholm Univ.) and Mindus (Uppsala Univ.), the logical organization, caliber of contributors, and emphasis on demonstrating the current relevance of legal positivism all come together to make this an essential volume for both students and scholars.' L. A. Wilkinson, Choice
