[22] Chapter 1 - Law and Power

Summary

If the opinion that all law is only a result of actual power relations and is based in the final instance upon violence were permitted to experience a transposition, by analogy, onto the domain of scientific opinions, then the question concerning the relation between law and power would already have been decided. The number of those, who, in plausible discussions and with numerous examples drawn from history and from everyday life, give the law a solely factual ground is so great that they undoubtedly have the preponderance of power – as long, at least, as one considers the factual popularity of their opinions only. However, as soon as the grounds and their correctness are submitted to scrutiny, this actuality no longer comes into consideration and arguments alone decide the matter.