Law’s Authority and Power: The Normative Foundations of Legitimate Coercion
Ana María Miranda Mora
Hegel-Studien Band 57 (2024)

Abstract: This paper delves into the normative foundations of legitimate coercion in Hegel’s theory of law and shows its relevance for a contemporary critical theory of law. I propose to focus on some grounding conceptual distinctions to understand better Hegel’s normative justification of law enforcement by coercive means in the Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts. First, I examine Hegel’s distinction between legality and legitimacy and present the challenge posed by the use of coercion in law enforcement and Hegel’s understanding of crime. Second, I analyze the connection between violence and coercion. Here, I delve into the relationship between violence, coercion, and power to illuminate Hegel’s concept of punishment. Third, I address the relationship between vengeance and justice to discuss Hegel’s retributivism. I analyze Hegel’s diagnosis of the tension between law and violence and examine the thesis that law sublates the violence of vengeance and prohibition into just and rightful punishment. I claim that Hegel’s concept of legal and legitimate coercion is grounded on law’s authority and power. His analysis is developed in two moments that complement each other: abstract law (in the section on wrong) and civil society (in the section on the administration of justice). This means that the arguments introduced in abstract law are completed by and dependent on the ones presented in civil society, and vice versa. In other words, they are mutually dependent.

https://meiner.de/periodika/hegel-studien/hegel-studien-band-57.html