Hans Kelsens pure theory of law as critique of the "authoritarian" understanding of law and jurisprudence

Abstract

In this paper, I analyse Hans Kelsens understanding of jurisprudence and law - by contrasting the normative-dogmatic understanding, which I will call authoritarian. By establishing the primacy of politics and rejecting the prescriptive function of jurisprudence, Hans Kelsen enabled a democratic concept of law (and of jurisprudence), and at the same time a critical and political approach. Kelsen defines the law from a dynamic perspective, which justifies the constant changeability of the law - and in this respect the primacy of democratic politics over dogmatic jurisprudence. The normative basis for Kelsens understanding of jurisprudence is his relativism, which is based on a moral position on the autonomy of the individual.