THE DIFFERENT METAETHICAL LEVELS IN KELSEN’S LEGAL POSITIVISM

Authors

  • Lenio Streck Unisinos
  • Arthur M. Ferreira Neto UFRGS

Keywords:

Metaethics; theoretical groundings of law; Kelsen’s legal positivism.

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze, following Stanley Paulson, the metaethical groundings of Kelsen's Legal Positivism, trying to identify three levels present in this work, namely: (i) it’s non cognitivist position of moral knowledge, concerning the epistemic status of good/correct/fair judgments; (ii) it’s cognitivist position concerning scientific knowledge, in reference to true or false judgments in the realm of legal theory; and (iii) it’s non cognitivist position concerning the dimension of application of statutes and of decision-making by courts. This theoretical clarification of metaethical levels in Kelsen’s thought will help to better understand the merits and the mistakes present in his scientific work. 

Author Biographies

Lenio Streck, Unisinos

Doctor and Master in Law from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) and post-doctorate from the University of Lisbon. Full Professor of the Post-Graduate Program in Law at the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (Unisinos), in the concentration area of Public Law, permanent professor and researcher at Estácio de Sá University (Unesa) and visiting professor at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, in Colombia. Full member of the Brazilian Academy of Constitutional Law (ABDConst). Honorary President of the Instituto de Hermenêutica Jurídica - IHJ (RS-MG). Member of the permanent commission on Constitutional Law of the Institute of Brazilian Lawyers (IAB), of the Observatory of Constitutional Jurisdiction of the Brasiliense Institute of Public Law (IDP), of the magazine Direitos Fundamentais & Justiça, of the magazine Novos Estudos Jurídicos, among others. Coordinator of Dasein - Center for Hermeneutic Studies.

Arthur M. Ferreira Neto, UFRGS

Holds a degree in Legal and Social Sciences from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), a specialist in Tax Law from the Brazilian Institute of Tax Studies (Ibet), a master's and doctorate in Tax Law from UFRGS, and a master's and doctorate in Philosophy from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). He did his doctoral internship in Philosophy at the Universität Tübingen with a scholarship granted by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (Daad), and his doctoral internship in Law at the Justus-Liebig Universität Giessen with a scholarship granted by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes). Assistant Professor of Tax Law at the UFRGS Law School, permanent professor of the Postgraduate Program in Law at UFRGS and substitute coordinator of the Research Committee of the UFRGS Law School (Compesq-DIR).

 

References

AUDI, R. The architecture of reason: the structure and substance of rationality. Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 2001.

AUSTIN, J. The province of jurisprudence determined. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

AUSTIN, J. A plea for the Constitution. In: SCARROW, S. (ed.). Perspectives on political parties: classic

readings. Nova York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

AUSTIN, J. Lectures on Jurisprudence. 5. ed. Nova Jersey: The Lawbook Exchange, 2005.

AYER, A. J. (ed.). Logical positivism. Preface Paul Edwards. Nova Iorque: The Free Press, 1959.

BARZOTTO, L. F. O positivismo jurídico contemporâneo: uma introdução a Kelsen, Ross e Hart. São

Leopoldo: Unisinos, 1999.

BAYÓN, J. C. El contenido mínimo del positivismo jurídico. In: ZAPATERO, V. (org.). Horizontes de

la filosofía del derecho. Homenaje a Luis García San Miguel Rodríguez-Arango. Alcalá de Henares: Universidad

de Alcalá de Henares, 2002. v. 2.

BIRNBACHER, D. Analytische Einführung in die Ethik. 2. ed. [s. l.]: Walter de Gruyter, 2007.

BRASIL. Supremo Tribunal Federal, 2ª Turma, HC 103412/SP, relator ministro Dias Toffoli. Diário

da Justiça, 19 jun. 2012.

BUSTAMANTE, T. da R. de. A breve história do positivismo descritivo: o que resta do positivismo jurídico

depois de H. L. A. Hart? Novos Estudos Jurídicos, Itajaí, v. 20, n. 1, jan./abr. 2015. DOI 10.14210/

nej.v20n1.p307-327

COMTE, A. Curso de filosofia positiva. Barcelona: Magisterio Casals, 1987.

DARWALL, S.; GIBBARD, A.; RAILTON, P. Metaética: algumas tendências. Tradução Janyne Sattler.

Florianópolis: Editora da UFSC, 2013.

DWORKIN, R. Justice in robes. Cambridge: The Belknap Press, 2006.

FERRAZ JR., T. S. Miguel Reale: o filósofo da teoria tridimensional do direito. Revista Brasileira de Filosofia,

v. 59, n. 235, p. 39-52, jul./dez. 2010. Disponível em: https://repositorio.usp.br/item/002453893.

Acesso em: 3 mar. 2023.

FERREIRA NETO, A. M. Metaética e a fundamentação do direito. 2. ed. São Paulo: Almedina, 2020.

FINNIS, J. A grand tour of legal theory. In: FINNIS, J. Philosophy of law: collected essays. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2011. v. 4

FRANKENA, W. Moral philosophy at mid-century. The Philosophical Review, v. 60, n. 1, p. 44-55,

DOI 10.2307/2181907

HAMMER, S. A neo-Kantian theory of legal knowledge in Kelsen’s pure theory of Law? In: PAULSON,

S. L. (ed.). Normativity and norms: critical perspectives on Kelsenian themes. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 1998.

HILBER, W. (ed.). Lexikon der Philosophie. Alemanha: 7Hill, 2010.

KAUFMANN, A.; HASSEMER, W.; NEUMANN, U. (ed.). Einführung in Rechtsphilosophie und Rechtstheorie

der Gegenwart. Alemanha: C. F. Müller, 2011.

KELSEN, H. Teoria geral das normas. Porto Alegre: Sergio Antonio Fabris, 1986.

KELSEN, H. Teoria pura do direito. Tradução João Baptista Machado. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2000a.

KELSEN, H. Was ist Gerechtigkeit? Alemanha: Philipp Reclam, 2000b.

KELSEN, H. O que é a justiça? São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2001.

KELSEN, H. Reine Rechtslehre. Heidelberg: Mohr Siebeck, 2008.

LOBBAN, M.; PATTARO, E. (ed.). A history of the philosophy of law in the common law world: 1600-1900.

Nova Iorque: Springer, 2016. v. 8.

MENDONÇA, W. Questões metaéticas. In: BRUM TORRES, J. C. (org.). Manual de ética: questões de

ética teórica e aplicada. Petrópolis: Vozes; Caxias do Sul: Educs; Rio de Janeiro: BNDES, 2014.

PAULSON, S. L.; LITSCHEWSKI-PAULSON, B. (ed.). Normativity and norms: critical perspectives on

Kelsenian themes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

SCHMITT, C. Sobre os três tipos de pensamento jurídico. In: MACEDO JR., R. P. Carl Schmitt e a fundamentação

do direito. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 2001.

SMITH, M. The moral problem. Nova Jersey: Blackwell, 2005.

STRECK, L. L. Dicionário de hermenêutica: cinquenta verbetes fundamentais de teoria do direito à luz

da crítica hermenêutica do direito. 2. ed. Belo Horizonte: Letramento, 2020.

VOEGELIN, E. The nature of Law and related legal writings. Lousiana: Lousiana State University Press,

v. 27.

WALDRON, J. The irrelevance of moral objectivity. In: GEORGE, R. P. (ed.). Natural law theory: contemporary

essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Downloads

Published

2023-06-22

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2023): Revista Direito Mackenzie

Section

Historicism of Law and Legal Rationality and Social Systems

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Lenio Streck, Arthur M. Ferreira Neto

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The copyright of the articles published in Mackenzie Law Review belongs to the authors, who grant Mackenzie Presbyterian University the rights of publication of the contents, and the assignment takes effect upon submission of the article, or work in similar form, to the electronic system of institutional publications. The journal reserves the right to make normative, orthographic, and grammatical alterations to the originals, with the aim of maintaining the cultured standard of the language, respecting, however, the style of the authors. The content reported and the opinions expressed by the authors of the articles are their exclusive responsibility.