DI ANDREA RACITI
ABSTRACT – The main purpose of this work is to outline a comparison between the metaphysical foundations of Hegelian philosophy of law and of Kojèvian phenomenology of right. The latter presents itself as the heir and continuer of the Hegel’s theory not only in the philosophicalanthropological field, but also in legal philosophy. This paper attempts to show that the Auseinandersetzung between the Hegelian concept of «Recht» and the Kojèvian concept of «Droit» leads to the emergence of a substantial philosophical incompatibility between these two theories of law. This mismatch consists in a clear contradiction between their respective metaphysical premises and, consequently, between the social-ontological developments and results that arise from these alternative legal philosophies. While Hegel’s Rechtsphilosophie involves a conception of communitarian ethics aimed at establishing the dialectical compenetration between subjective freedom and the political-universal substance, Kojève’s phénoménologie du droit, by contrast, seeks to isolate the legal phenomenon from the historical-dialectical process through an abstract and formal definition based on the absolutization – positivistic and anti-idealistic at the same time – of the Servant-Master dialectic.
KEYWORDS – Hegel – Kojève – philosophy of law – phenomenology of right – communitarian ethics – Servant – Master dialectic