Society and Nature

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.