This paper examines critically the instrumentalist theory of authority as developed by Joseph Raz. According to Raz’s “normal justification thesis” the authority provides its subjects with the tools to act in accordance with reason. In other...
This contribution aims to explain and develop the premises on which Joseph Raz’s version of liberal multiculturalism is based. Towards the end, the conceptual analysis developed by Raz will be applied to some problems of criminal law, especially...
This paper aims to assess Robert Alexy’s latest contributions to the debate that has followed his fundamental critique of legal positivism in The Argument from Injustice. I discuss several ways to understand the “claim to correctness” Alexy is...
This contribution aims to analyse Samuel Pufendorf’s critique of the Hobbesian con- cept of equality as the equal exercise of natural rights.In the first section of this article, which addresses the basis of equality, Pufendorf applies his...
An approach to analyse the structure of balancing is the idea of defeasible reasoning. This is often explained by using a non-monotonic logic, admitting that new information can invalidate formerly valid inferences. A more fruitful alternative seems...