Debating Finnis on Petrażycki by Fittipaldi, Edoardo; Polyakov, Andrey V.; Timoshina, Elena V.;

Long description:

In this book, John Finnis provides a virtually unparalleled, in-depth assessment of Leon Petrażycki’s work by a Western scholar. In the opening chapter, Finnis takes up the challenge of reading Petrażycki not simply as a historical curiosity of Eastern European jurisprudence but as a thinker whose wide-ranging and ambitious ideas continue to spark debate today. He critiques not only Petrażycki’s non-standard “economic analysis of law,” which differs markedly from the Chicago School model (not to mention from Guido Calabresi’s and Pietro Trimarchi’s versions), but also many other aspects of Petrażycki’s various contributions to jurisprudence. These include, above all, his legal-realistic but nonetheless appreciative treatment of the natural-law tradition(s), which makes Petrażycki both distinctive and difficult to classify in terms of standard schools of thought.

Finnis’ essay is followed by nine further contributions. Written by scholars from different traditions and standpoints, they criticize, reassess, and elaborate upon Finnis’ arguments, creating a rich and multi-voiced dialogue. The volume concludes with Finnis’ own, extensive “concluding reflections,” in which he directly responds to his fellow contributors, clarifying his original questions and replying to the challenges raised in their chapters.

This unique volume showcases Finnis’ insights, while enabling his interlocutors to highlight the depth and complexity of both Finnis’ and Petrażycki’s thought, as well as broader issues – more relevant now than ever – such as the differences between Catholic natural law, Orthodox natural law, and Petrażycki’s atheistic, humanistic, anti-speciesist ideal of substituting love for law and morality alike.

Table of Contents:

Introduction.- PART I JOHN FINNIS ON LEON PETRAŻYCKI.- Some Questions about Normativity and History in Petrażycki.- PART II DISCUSSION.- Petrażycki and Natural Law.- Leon Petrażycki’s Legal Theory and the Central Tradition: Remarks on John Finnis’s “Questions about Normativity and History in Petrażycki”.- Some Answers to Questions about Normativity and History in Petrażycki.- Love as an Ideal Beyond Law and Morality: A Reply to John Finnis and a Reconstruction of Leon Petrażycki’s Ultimate Social Ideal.- Human Rights in the Context of Leon Petrażycki’s Theory of Law: Reconstruction, Interpretation, Contemporary Reading.- The Experience of Normativity: Petrażyckianism and Beyond.- Solipsism and Openness to the Other from John Finnis’s and Leon Petrażycki’s Perspectives.- Petrażycki, Finnis, and Evolutionary Jurisprudence.- The Species of Law and Justice: A Lesson from Leon Petrażycki.- PART III REPLY BY JOHN FINNIS.- Concluding Reflections on Petrażycki and the Central Tradition: Justification, Freedom, Law, and Equality.