Society and Nature: A Sociological Inquiry. (International Library of Sociology and Social Reconstruction)

Kelsen, Hans. Society and Nature: A Sociological Inquiry. London: K. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., [1946]. viii, 391 pp. Reprinted 2000 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 99-054869. ISBN 1-58477-064-3. Cloth. $85. * The influential jurist Hans Kelsen [1881-1973] here applies his concept of the distinction between society and nature. He shows how primitive man developed his interpretation of nature, through the laws of retribution and of causality, to a modern concept of nature and society. He holds that the gradual emancipation of the law of causality from the principle of retribution is "the emancipation from a social interpretation of nature. The process shows a relation between social and natural science which is very important from the point of view of intellectual history." (Introduction p. viii) Extensively annotated. Kelsen is known for his theory of pure positive law, as postulated in General Theory of Law and State, which is also available in a reprint edition from The Lawbook Exchange.Hans Kelsen is the author of 'Society and Nature: A Sociological Inquiry. (International Library of Sociology and Social Reconstruction)', published 2009 under ISBN 9781584770640 and ISBN 1584770643.