On Kaufmann's Thoughts In Legal Philosophy

Arthur Kaufmann was one of the most influential legal philosophy authorities after World War II in Germany, he established legal onto-hermeneutics, and he reinspected the meaning of the study on procedure theory. Learn the legal philosophy though of such a great man,have the necessity very much at the current time. This article is composed by six parts, the content is in turn as follows:First part, the source and the development of Kaufmann's thoughts in legal philosophy.Second part, the legal philosophy belief of Kaufmann. In this part, Kaufmann proposed the fundamental problems of his legal philosophy theory——What is just law? How to accomplish it?Third part, the legal onto-hermeneutics of Kaufmann. He take the hermeneutics into the law,and change into legal onto-hermeneutics. This what Kaufmann's thoughts are focusing on. His theory bases on subjective and objective, he thinks the process of the law discovery is a interactive relationship between subjects and objects. He opposes the pure science reasonableness of traditional positivism. He thinks that the object of the law discovery is not a text, but a kind of relation. Kaufmann thinks that the process of law discovery is the result of the interplay that syllogism, induction, subjunctive etc. He called this mode as "analogy". He thinks that analogy is the thinking of a "type", it only has its meaning center, but the extension is misty. Analogy is indispensable to the discovery of law.Fourth part, the justice procedure theory of Kaufmann. Kaufmann found that the onto-hermeneutics is not enough to solve the fundamental problems of his legal philosophy theory, so he appealed to procedure theory. After reinspecting the subsistent procedure theory, he proposed the justice procedure theory that put forward to make people the centre. Kaufmann deems that the biggest shortage of the legal procedure theory is that they think they can abandon history and fact, and acquire the absolute objective truth. He reckons the legal procedure theory is right in the access on argument, but need to join the contents. He thinks what to join is the existence of the relation, not the existence of the entity, this existence is "person"——"person" in the relation. Here, Kaufmann restated his theory of the relation existence.Fifth part, the principle of tolerance. Kaufmann has continued stressing the importance of tolerance in his theories, tolerance and the pluralism are the core of his thought. Respect of the ideas of others is possible only because the presence of tolerance, therefore,without tolerance, there is no justice procedure theory. In Kaufmann's opinion, tolerance is not only the essential prerequisite to acquire truth, but is the key to solve some legal philosophy problems, what's more, tolerance is our fate and virtue.Sixth part, conclusion. We should be reflective and tolerant to Kaufmann's legal philosophy thought.