The reception of Robert Alexy's work in Anglo-American jurisprudence1. (3rd April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rivers, Julian
• Is Part Of: Jurisprudence. Volume 10:Number 2(2019)
• Page Start: 133
• Page End: 150
• Publication Date: 2019-04-03
• Subjects: Robert Alexy -- legal argumentation -- non-positivism -- constitutional rights -- Kantian jurisprudence -- discourse theory -- Germany -- Anglo-American jurisprudence -- reception; Jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Law -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 340.1
• DOI: 10.1080/20403313.2018.1519943
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2040-3321

Abstract

ABSTRACT: At first sight, the work of the German legal philosopher and constitutional theorist, Robert Alexy, appears to offer a welcome counter-example to the general insulation of Anglo-American jurisprudence from continental European influences. Over the last 30 years, his ideas and writings have become increasingly available in English, and they have stimulated a growing engagement in response. However, this immediate impression masks an unevenness in the reception of his work. In this article I trace the history and extent of this reception, contrasting its variability with the internally systemic and coherent quality of Alexy's entire oeuvre . I suggest that the causes for this variability are to be found in the intellectual climate of modern anglophone jurisprudence, in which work in the Kantian legal-philosophical tradition is unfamiliar or viewed with caution. A deeper theoretical development needs to take place if his work is to be appreciated holistically. However, there are signs that such a development is taking place, and it is possible that in time the reception of Alexy's work will be seen to be part of that longer-term process.