Assumptions and Theses of Carlos Cossio’s Phenomenology of the Law
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.60205Keywords:
law, phenomenology, conduct, egology, intersubjectivityAbstract
The Argentinian legal philosopher Carlos Cossio developed his concepts from the 1930s, being an academic lecturer and actively participating in social life. In assumptions, theses and postulates, his theory of law examines the social role of law, primarily the role of judges and judicial institutions. In his phenomenology of law, Cossio refers above all to Edmund Husserl’s phenomenologist theses, but also to Immanuel Kant’s ethics and to the philosophy of existence – to the construals of Miguel de Unamuno and Martin Heidegger. Cossio systematically emphasises the first-person, i.e., egological and individualistic, perspective of knowledge, decisions and actions. Such a perspective allows us to recognise law as acting towards and for human individuals, taking into account their specific biographical situation and their conduct – law is defined and gaining importance in a concrete social world. At the same time, the position of the subject in the world is determined by the intersubjective context of culture, which is identical to the specifically human “world of life”. Cossio directs our attention towards anthropological theses (the anthropological need for rules and normativity) and towards the language and other sign systems presumed to be specific human products and giving meanings to “cultural objects” (Wilhelm Dilthey), i.e., towards intersubjectivity (Lebenswelt) broadly understood as a symbolic, semiotic and semantic sphere.
References
Almeida Diniz A. J., The Egological Theory. An Approach to the Legal Thought of Carlos Cossio (a thesis submitted to the Departement of Law), Tulane University, 1965.
Ben-Dor O., Thinking about Law: In Silence with Heidegger, London–New York 2007.
Callister P. D., Law and Heidegger’s Question Concerning Technology: A Prolegomena to Future Law Librarianship, „Law Library Journal” 99 (2007) nr 2, s. 285–305.
Cossio C., Jurisprudence and the Sociology of Law, 1, „Columbia Law Review” 52 (1952) nr 3, s. 356–381.
Cossio C., Jurisprudence and the Sociology of Law, 2, „Columbia Law Review” 52 (1952) nr 4, s. 479–501.
Cossio C., La polemica anti-egológica (Respuesta al profesor Hans Kelsen), „La Ley” (1954) nr 76, s. 740–760.
Cossio C., La teoría egológica del derecho. Su problema y sus problemas, Buenos Aires 1963.
Cossio C., La teoría egológica del derecho y el concepto jurídico de libertad, Buenos Aires 1944.
Cossio C., Panorama de la teoría egológica del derecho, Buenos Aires 1949.
Cossio C., Phenomenology of the Decision, w: Latin-American Legal Philosophy, ed. L. Recaséns Siches, transl. G. Ireland, Cambridge Mass. 1948, s. 343–400.
Cossio C., Teoría de la verdad jurídica, Buenos Aires 1954.
Cossio C., Teoría egológica y teoría pura (Balance provisional de la visita de Kelsen a la Argentina), „Mundo Hispánico” (1949) nr 48, s. 185–249.
Dimitrov B., Cultural Phenomenology of Law and Topological Approach to Law. A Series of papers presenting the essentials of Topological Approach to Law (2012), https://www.academia.edu/1428060/Cultural_Phenomenology_of_Law (21.07.2022).
Duxbury N., Carlos Cossio and Egological Legal Philosophy, „Ratio Juris” 2 (1989) nr 3, s. 274–282.
Goździalski K., Phenomenological Concept of Law from the Perspective of Carlos Cossio, „Folia Iuridica (Acta Universitatis Lodziensis)” (2020) nr 90, s. 119–139.
Goździalski K., Prawo jako przedmiot kulturowy w filozofii prawa Carlosa Cossio, „Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej” (2016) nr 1, s. 12–30.
Heidegger M., Bycie i czas, tłum. B. Baran, Warszawa 1994.
Husserl E., Badania logiczne, t. 1: Prolegomena do czystej logiki, tłum. J. Sidorek, Toruń 1996.
Kelsen H., Czysta teoria prawa, red. A. Bosiacki, tłum. R. Szubert, Warszawa 2014.
Kelsen H., Teoría pura del derecho y teoría egológica (Respuesta a Carlos Cossio: Teoría egológica y teoría pura del derecho, balance provisional de la visita de Kelsen a la Argentina), transl. L. Legaz Lacambra, „Revista de Estudios Políticos” (1953) nr 71, s. 3–39.
Kunz J. L., Introduction, w: Latin-American Legal Philosophy, ed. L. Recaséns Siches, Cambridge Mass. 1948, s. XIX–XXXVII.
Leksykon współczesnej teorii i filozofii prawa, red. J. Zajadło, Warszawa 2017.
Normatywizm Hansa Kelsena a współczesna nauka prawa, red. A. Bosiacki, Warszawa 2019.
Recaséns Siches L., Axiología jurídica: Bases para la estimativa jurídica, Havana 1939.
Recaséns Siches L., Estudios de Filosofía del Derecho, Barcelona 1936.
Recaséns Siches L., Vida humana, sociedad y derecho. Fundamentación de la Filosofía del Derecho, México 1939.
Reinach A., Concerning Phenomenology, transl. D. A. Willard, „Pacific Philosophical Quarterly” 50 (1969) nr 2, s. 194–221.
Reinach A., Zur Phänomenologie des Rechts. Die apriorischen Grundlagen des bürgerlichen Rechts, Münich 1953, polski przekład: Reinach A., Aprioryczne podstawy prawa cywilnego, przeł. T. Bekrycht, Kraków 2009.
Schalow F., Heidegger, the Law of Being, and Animal Protection Laws, „Ethics and the Environment” 20 (2015) nr 2, s. 61–82.
Serrano Pirela A. E., Cuatro notas introductorías a la fenomenología jurídica de Carlos Cossio, „Anuario Filosófico” 3 (1970) nr 1, s. 319–326.
Serrano Pirela A. E., Prolegómenos para el estudio de la teoría egológica, „Anuario Filosófico” 2 (1969) nr 1, s. 335–353.
Vichot R., On some Contributions of Existential Phenomenology to Sociology of Law: Formalism and Historicism, w: Foundations of Morality, Human Rights, and the Human Sciences. Phenomenology in a Foundational Dialogue with the Human Sciences, eds. A.-T. Tymieniecka, C. O. Schrag, Dordrecht 1983, s. 539–551 (Analecta Husserliana, 15).
Zahavi D., Applied phenomenology: why it is safe to ignore the epoché, „Continental Philosophy Review” (2021) nr 54, s. 259–273.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions, and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
