This book takes the German imperial public law tradition and its potential impact on Hegel''s thought as a serious source for interpreting his thought. It analyses such connections in the young philosopher''s relation to the central figures of the earlier epochs of imperial publicism. By treating Hegel''s speculative work and political writings in tandem alongside German imperial public law and its authors, Hegel and German Public Law produces a powerful new way of understanding Hegel''s place in the history of political and legal thought. Nathaniel Boyd also investigates other dimensions of German imperial public law that have not yet been explored in the critical literature. The book frames a period of political and historical transition in Europe, but also shows the importance of legal tradition and its conveyance to the modern age. It critically highlights the development of alternative forms of state and federation which were conveyed by the particular constitutional development of the Holy Roman Empire that can have a lasting influence on our comprehension of European political history more broadly.

Autorentext
Nathaniel Boyd is Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher on the Leverhulme Trust-funded project Rethinking Civil Society: History, Theory, Critique, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of York, UK.

Klappentext

Nathaniel Boyd's pathbreaking book argues that Hegel's political thought was shaped by German public law. This tradition of legal discourse, especially through its imperial tradition, was crucial to European modernity, influencing foundational philosophical concepts such as sovereignty, the state and the diverse legal systems that emerged from them. Hegel and German Public Law examines the impact of Johann Jacob Moser, Johann Stephan Pütter and Johann Christian von Majer on Hegel's intellectual development. It reveals how the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire informed his early speculative system and constitutional theory. In doing so, Boyd extends our understanding of Hegel's relation to European legal and political thought while offering an original interpretive framework for Hegel's absolute idealism and unfolding institutional theory of the state.

Zusammenfassung
An exploration of Hegel's relation to the German imperial public law tradition and its authors at a time of constitutional collapse and revolution in Germany and Europe.

Inhalt

Introduction

1. Imperial Public Law in Statu Cadentis Imperii: Johann Jacob Moser
2. The Empire as the Impersonal Nexus of the Composite State: Johann Stephan Pütter
3. The Twilight of German Imperial Public Law: Johann Christian von Majer
4. The Empire of Ethical Life: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
   Conclusion
   Bibliography
   Index