Hans Kelsen Quotes on Justice
Hans Kelsen (1881–1973) — the Austrian-American jurist and principal architect of the Austrian Constitution of 1920 — gave twentieth-century legal philosophy its most influential systematic statement of legal positivism in the Pure Theory of Law (Reine Rechtslehre, 1934, second edition 1960). The fundamental commitment is that legal science must be purified of the moral, political, and sociological elements with which traditional jurisprudence had confused it: the validity of a legal norm derives from its place in a hierarchical normative order that traces back to a presupposed basic norm (Grundnorm), not from its conformity to natural justice. The corresponding treatment of justice in What Is Justice? (1957) is famously skeptical — substantive justice admits of no rational determination, and the rule-of-law conception of formal legal regularity is the only conception of justice on which legal science can rigorously operate.
Quotes
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Attributed to Hans Kelsen:
“Law is a system of norms, not a fact.”
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Attributed to Hans Kelsen:
“The validity of a norm rests on the validity of the higher norm that authorizes it.”
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Attributed to Hans Kelsen:
“Justice is an irrational ideal; legality is the social good we can pursue.”
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Attributed to Hans Kelsen:
“International law presupposes a basic norm that obligates states to observe their treaties.”
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“Platonic Justice", Ethics , April 1938. Translated by Glenn Negley from "Die platonische Gerechtigkeit," Kantstudien, 1933. (The author corrected the translation in 1957), published in What is Justice? (1957)”
The mark of Platonic philosophy is a radical dualism. The Platonic world is not one of unity; and the abyss which in many ways results from this bifurcation appears in innumerable forms. It is not one, but two worlds, which Plato sees when with the eyes of his soul he envisages a transcendent, spaceless, and timeless realm of the Idea, the thing-in-itself, the true, absolute reality of tranquil be -
“Law is an order of human behavior. An “order” is a system of rules. Law is not, as it is sometimes said, a rule. It is a set of rules having the kind of unity we understand by a system. It is impossible to grasp the nature of law if we limit our attention to the single isolated rule.”
General Theory of Law and State (1949), I. The Concept of Law, A. Law and Justice, a. Human Behavior as the Objects of Rules -
“General Theory of Law and State (1949), I. The Concept of Law, A. Law and Justice, a. Human Behavior as the Objects of Rules”
Law is an order of human behavior. An “order” is a system of rules. Law is not, as it is sometimes said, a rule. It is a set of rules having the kind of unity we understand by a system. It is impossible to grasp the nature of law if we limit our attention to the single isolated rule. -
“What Is Justice?" (1952), published in What is Justice? (1957)”
Justice is primarily a possible, but not a necessary, quality of a social order regulating the mutual relations of men. Only secondarily it is a virtue of man, since a man is just, if his behavior conforms to the norms of a social order supposed to be just. But what does it really mean to say that a social order is just? It means that this order regulates the behavior of men in a way satisfactory -
“One of the most important elements of Christian religion is the idea that justice is an essential quality of God . Since God is the absolute, his justice must be absolute justice, that is to say, eternal and unchangeable. Only a religion whose deity is supposed to be just can play a role in social life. To attribute justice to the deity in order to make religion applicable to human relations implies a certain tendency of rationalizing something which, by its very nature, is irrational-the transcendental being, the religious authority, and its absolute qualities.”
The Idea of Justice in the Holy Scriptures", Rivista Juridicade la Universidadde Puerto Rico , Sept., 1952-April, 1953., published in What is Justice? (1957) -
“The Idea of Justice in the Holy Scriptures", Rivista Juridicade la Universidadde Puerto Rico , Sept., 1952-April, 1953., published in What is Justice? (1957)”
One of the most important elements of Christian religion is the idea that justice is an essential quality of God . Since God is the absolute, his justice must be absolute justice, that is to say, eternal and unchangeable. Only a religion whose deity is supposed to be just can play a role in social life. To attribute justice to the deity in order to make religion applicable to human relations impli -
“It is called a “pure” theory of law , because it only describes the law and attempts to eliminate from the object of this description everything that is not strictly law: Its aim is to free the science of law from alien elements. This is the methodological basis of the theory.”
Pure Theory of Law (revised ed., 1960), 1. The “Pure” Theory -
“Pure Theory of Law (revised ed., 1960), 1. The “Pure” Theory”
It is called a “pure” theory of law , because it only describes the law and attempts to eliminate from the object of this description everything that is not strictly law: Its aim is to free the science of law from alien elements. This is the methodological basis of the theory. -
“Pure Theory of Law (revised ed., 1960), 7. Moral Norms as Social Norms”
By determining law — so far as it is the subject of a specific science of law — as norm, it is delimited against nature; and science of law against natural science. But in addition to legal norms, there are other norms regulating the behavior of men to each other, that is, social norms; and the science of law is therefore not the only discipline directed toward the cognition and description of soc