The Constitution of the Legal Relation
A Pragmatist Philosophy of Law
1st Edition
Published on 22. January 2026
352 pages
978-1-5099-7923-3 (ISBN)
Description
This book defends the relational approach to law.
It begins by exploring how law is constituted in the context of either rational or reasonable conduct. Having identified reasonableness as the unifying theme of natural law theories, it argues that the form and authority of law originate in the practical resolution of a moral antinomy that these theories leave unaddressed.
The reasonableness of law lies in the structure and principles of relations in which rights are correlated with obligations and powers with liabilities. Rather than descending upon us from above in the form of directives, law emerges from our interactive efforts to cope with persistent moral disagreements.
Ultimately, the relational approach views the legal rules governing our interactions as expressions of a common will. The book concludes that, unsurprisingly, modern constitutionalism represents a thoroughly pragmatic and most defensible conception of the authority of law.
It begins by exploring how law is constituted in the context of either rational or reasonable conduct. Having identified reasonableness as the unifying theme of natural law theories, it argues that the form and authority of law originate in the practical resolution of a moral antinomy that these theories leave unaddressed.
The reasonableness of law lies in the structure and principles of relations in which rights are correlated with obligations and powers with liabilities. Rather than descending upon us from above in the form of directives, law emerges from our interactive efforts to cope with persistent moral disagreements.
Ultimately, the relational approach views the legal rules governing our interactions as expressions of a common will. The book concludes that, unsurprisingly, modern constitutionalism represents a thoroughly pragmatic and most defensible conception of the authority of law.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
ISBN-13
978-1-5099-7923-3 (9781509979233)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 01/2026
Hart Publishing
€123.50
Not yet published
Person
Alexander Somek is Professor of Legal Philosophy at the University of Vienna, Austria.
Content
1. Skepticism and Agreement
2. The Point of Legal Philosophy
3. The Rational Perspective on Overpowering Force
4. A Modest Primer on Reasonableness
5. Soul and the City
6. The Best and the Most Feasible
7. Natural Law: Its Problem
8. Natural Law: Trajectories
9. The Enigma of Authority
10. Relational Approaches
11. The Enigma of Morality
12. The Indeterminacy of Law
2. The Point of Legal Philosophy
3. The Rational Perspective on Overpowering Force
4. A Modest Primer on Reasonableness
5. Soul and the City
6. The Best and the Most Feasible
7. Natural Law: Its Problem
8. Natural Law: Trajectories
9. The Enigma of Authority
10. Relational Approaches
11. The Enigma of Morality
12. The Indeterminacy of Law
