Lodge, Rupert C.

bepress Legal Repository

Review of \u3ci\u3eAlgunos aspectos de la doctrina del derecho en Kant\u3c/i\u3e by Alfredo M. Egusquiza

University of Chicago Law School: Chicago Unbound

BOOK REVIEWSStudying Law. Edited by Arthur T. Vanderbilt. New York: Washington SquarePub. Co., 1945. Pp. viii, 753. $4.75.The selections in this book speak for themselves. There is sound advice to the be-ginning student and the young lawyer from Albert J. Beveridge, serious and re-ligious, with little reference to the sparkle and originality that contributed to thegreatness of John Marshall. There is Zane's informative essay, "The Five Ages of theBench and Bar of England," reprinted from Select Essays in Anglo-American LegalHistory. There are some two hundred pages, called "Elements of Law," by MunroeSmith. These include an essay on jurisprudence by him but consist mostly of theeditor's notes on lectures by Professor Smith. Apart from the reprinted essay, this is apanoramic history of law with about ninety pages devoted to English and Americanlaw. Again, the material is helpful and informative.Dean Pound is represented by an outline "Introduction to American Law," hisnoteworthy "Survey of Social Interests," and the essay on "Interpretation of Statutes"written as an introduction to Professor de Sloovere's Cases on the Interpretation ofStatutes. Professor Wambaugh's "How To Use Decisions and Statutes" is reprintedfrom Cooley on Brief Making; and with it goes Professor Goodhart's useful and wellknown essay, "Determining the Ratio Decidendi of a Case."A lively and stimulating note is contributed by Dean Wigmore's "Jury-TrialRules of Evidence in the Next Century." The editor includes his own survey ofopinions on "Prelegal Education," drawn from a Report to the Section of Legal Educa-tion and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association made in September,i944. Finally there is a reprint from Mr. Charles B. Stephens' Report of the SpecialCommittee on the Economic Condition of the Bar of the American Bar Association,1945, giving a useful brief analysis of the factors which one may consider in determin-ing where to begin his work as a lawyer.The selection is sober and should contribute to a student's sense of security. Forthose mature young men who are now entering law schools it would seem more usefulto emphasize the relationship between the still problematical social developments ofthe day and the developing law. The reviewer would prefer, for an introduction to law,a selection arranged around Maine's chapter on Contract in Ancient Law, DeanPound's "The New Feudalism," and selections from the Rushcliffe Report.MALCOLM SHAPP*Algunos aspectos de la doctrina del derecho en Kant. By Alfredo M. Egusquiza.Buenos Aires: Los Talleres Graficos d'Accurzio, 1945. Pp. 96.This little brochure of some thirteen thousand words falls into three approximatelyequal parts, consisting of an "objective" presentation of the logical essence of (i)Kant's theoretical philosophy, (2) Kant's practical philosophy, and (3) certain aspectsof Kant's philosophy of right. The first two-thirds are presented, not so much for theirown sake, as because they supply an indispensable frame of reference for the thirdpart, which alone corresponds to the title of the work.* Professor of Law, University of Chicago.THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW REVIEWThe third part simply follows Kant's own attempts to apply his philosophicalprinciples to the subject of jurisprudence, distinguishing sharply the moral and judicialpoints of view, showing on what grounds compulsion and external necessity properlyform a part of justice, on what grounds the social contract can be regarded as a norma-tive idea, and how far and why Kant's conception of a kingdom of ends is significantfor a philosophical understanding of jurisprudence.Throughout, the author abstains from historical explanation of any sort, from dis-cussion of alternative scholarly interpretations, and from thrusting himself in any wayinto the picture he presents. We are offered, quite simply, the distilled essence of Kant'sown words, with the thought that (i) they form a consistent system of inter-implyingpropositions, and (2) that it is worth while to present them in this way at this time.There is just a suggestion that commentators who have ventured to criticize Kant'sattempt to apply his philosophy to matters of jurisprudence have failed to rendercomplete justice to the severe consistency of the philosopher's thought.Precisely for what class of readers this careful condensation of Kant's thought is in-tended, remains undetermined. It can hardly be designed for beginners, whether in thestudy of philosophy or in the study of law. To appreciate the objective accuracy, andindeed to apprehend the philosophical significance, of the author's severely condensedaccount, a reader would have to be pretty well acquainted already with Kant's work.Could it be intended for use as a sort of source book, containing accurate material fordiscussion, interpretation, and development by more advanced students, workingunder a yet moreadvanced scholarly leader? For full appreciation of its significance,the work surely cries out for some such expansion and interpretative development.As to how he would like his brochure to be understood and used, the author keepshis own counsel. In the severely modest and limited problem he has set himself, ofpresenting an objectively accurate sketch of Kant's system in its relation to juris-prudence, he has doubtless been successful. But how far, and for what purposes, such asketch, however accurate, is worth publishing at the present day, remains a question.Any university library, for instance, contains on its shelves some such book asCaird's Critical Philosophy of Immanuel Kant, published originally in 3889, Caird'saccount (vol. II, pp. 292-350) contains, not merely Kant's views presented in his ownway, but also a distinguished interpretation in terms of the principles of modemidealism. This goes beyond the letter of Kant's words and-corrects certain mechanicalweaknesses of Kant's excessively abstract logic. It brings out sympathetically the full.significance of the Kantian message. There are several similarly helpful and reliabletreatments in all modern languages; and they are all pretty well known. The presentreviewer has no doubt that the author of this brochure is well acquainted with whatevery university library has on its shelves, and that he must himself realize that he isin no way adding anything whatever to the extant literature on Kant. What he haspublished might, conceivably, be regarded as a reliable reference book for advancedstudents of jurisprudence. But, in that case, would it not be still better for them to referto some one of the many extant treatments which provide, not only the evidence, buta positive and constructive interpretation of it?RuPERT C. LoDGE** University of Manitoba.

Review of \u3ci\u3eAlgunos aspectos de la doctrina del derecho en Kant\u3c/i\u3e by Alfredo M. Egusquiza

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

bepress Legal Repository

University of Chicago Law School: Chicago Unbound