Legality & legitimacy: Carl Schmitt, Hans Kelsen & Hermann Heller in Weimar

The most original and substantive section of this book painstakenly resurrects two works by [Heller]: Die Souveranitat (1927) and his posthumous Staatslehre (1933), which he left unfinished. [David Dyzenhaus] intends to show that Heller's 'social democratic theory of the legitimacy of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:University of Toronto quarterly 1998, Vol.68 (1), p.514
Main Authors: Dyzenhaus, David, Cristi, Renato
Format: Review
Language:English
Subjects:
Heller, Hermann
Kelsen, Hans
Philosophy
Political science
Politics
Schmitt, Carl (1888-1985)
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The most original and substantive section of this book painstakenly resurrects two works by [Heller]: Die Souveranitat (1927) and his posthumous Staatslehre (1933), which he left unfinished. [David Dyzenhaus] intends to show that Heller's 'social democratic theory of the legitimacy of the legal order is superior to [Carl Schmitt]'s and Kelsen's positions.' He recognizes that Heller did not perceive their positions as two sides of the same coin. [Hans Kelsen] was Heller's 'legal target,' while Schmitt was only his 'political target,' to whom he came 'very close at times,' particularly in his own critique of Kelsen's Pure Theory of law. (Since his rapprochment to Schmitt is more readily evident in Die Souveranitat, Dyzenhaus should perhaps have stressed an understandable shift in the Staatslehre, where Heller is eager to maintain himself equidistant from both Kelsen and Schmitt.)
ISSN:0042-0247
1712-5278