Genius and chaos in the work of Rudolf von Jhering

Rudolf von Jhering (1819-1892) was, together with his close friend Bernhard Windscheid (1817-1892), the leading representative of the Romanist jurisprudence of his generation. Yet, what makes him so remarkable and interesting is that he decisively broke ranks with the mainstream by turning from a historical and conceptualist to a sociological and functional view of law. All this is well-known. My lecture will take a fresh look at his three best-known books – Geist des römischen Rechts, Der Kampf ums Recht and Der Zweck im Recht- to highlight two often overlooked features that set Jhering's work apart from contemporary scholarship: it was uncommonly genius and, at the same time, shockingly chaotic. Both these features were intimately connected as they were both rooted in Jhering's remarkably multifaceted and deeply tension-ridden character, as a person as well as a scholar. Looking at genius and chaos in Jhering's work invites reflection on, and discussion of, the role of these phenomena in modern jurisprudence.​