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Symbolism of the Spirit of the Laws: A Genealogical Excursus to Legal and Political Semiotics

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Abstract

The spirit of the laws is a symbol reflecting the ontological status and transcendental ideals of the system of positive law. The article analyses historical links between the romantic philosophy of the spirit of the nation (Volksgeist), which subsumed Montesquieu’s general spirit of the laws under the concept of ethnic culture, and recent politics of cultural and ethnic identity. Although criticising attempts at legalising ethnic collective identities, the article does not simply highlight the virtues of demos and the superiority of civic culture against the vices of ethnos and the regressive nature of ethnic politics of identity. Instead, the author argues that the civil democratic concept of political identity is part of the more general process of social differentiation: unlike the pre-political ethnic concept of identity, it can be converted to generalised democratic procedures and thus dismantle the totalitarian claims of cultural identity politics.

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Notes

  1. Herder, who is generally considered a father of the Volksgeist romantic ideology, paradoxically did not introduce the term and used its various expressions like Nationalgeist (in reference to von Moser), Genius des Volkes, and Geist des Volkes.

  2. Apart from the historical jurisprudence, it profoundly influenced comparative and social psychology of the 19th century in the form of Völkerpsychologie [57].

  3. It is important to distinguish pre-political culture from political culture. Political culture is only a fragment of common culture emerging as a consequence of democratisation (and therefore proceduralisation) of the political system of modern society and its adoption of the rule of law and constitutionalism.

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  1. Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Jiří Přibáň

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Přibáň, J. Symbolism of the Spirit of the Laws: A Genealogical Excursus to Legal and Political Semiotics. Int J Semiot Law 22, 179–195 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-009-9101-0

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