Savigny revisited
Volume 315 of the Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte is now available
Friedrich Carl von Savigny (1779-1861) ‘established something new, a “natural”-philosophical jurisprudence in the spirit of an early, objective-based metaphysical idealism.’ This is the main thesis posited by Joachim Rückert in this seminal work on the founder of the German Historical School. This oft-cited habilitation thesis, published in 1984 and written under the guidance of Sten Gagnér at LMU, has been sold out for a number of years. To make this work available to the entire scientific community – and not just those in the legal field – an unaltered reprint has now been published. The author uses his impressive knowledge of the sources to tread four paths to Savigny. According to Rückert’s novel approach, idealism is the key to understanding Savigny.
Several new resources now supplement the reprinted edition. Not only have corrections and amendments been made to the first edition but bibliographic recommendations to literature published since then are offered as well. Perhaps the most exciting addition is the over 50-page ‘traces of life’ (Lebensspuren). In large part thanks to the incisive quotations, this chronicle offers astute observations and illustrative vignettes, making it a great introduction to the life, influence and works of one of the most important jurists of the 19th century.
Joachim Rückert is professor emeritus of Modern Legal History, Contemporary Legal History, Civil Law and Legal Philosophy at the Goethe University Frankfurt. He is the editor of ‘Savignyana’, a subseries of the ‘Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte’ since 1993.