Hans Kelsen and his Pure Theory of Law: The Great Mystery Revisited
Hans Kelsen advanced a highly distinctive philosophy or theory of law having a significant impact on the development of modern jurisprudence. He was another jurist who has the credit of reviving the original analytical legal thought in the 20th century through his “Pure Theory of Law”. Kelsen did not favour widening the scope of jurisprudence by co-relating it with other social sciences and rigorously insisted on separation of law from politics, sociology, metaphysics and all other extra-legal disciplines. Kelsen’s theory is represented to be ‘pure’ in the sense that it carefully excludes from consideration all factors and issues which can be considered not to be strictly legal. These include all the moral, ethical, sociological and political factors and values which are commonly advanced in explanation or pleaded in justification of law.
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