Otto Friedrich von Gierke (1841–1921)

Non Fiction, Political Theorie, Development of Political Theorie, Gierke regards Johannes Althusius' work as the culmination of the idea of contract as a medievalist, seeking to reconstruct medieval corporatism for a post-medieval and changing time, According to Stephen J. Grabill, Gierke saw in Althusius a seminal thinker who was enabled by an exceptional education in law, theology, politics, and history to develop a political theory that served as a capstone of medieval social thought and a precursor to modern political ideas. The chief feature of this theory, Gierke thought, was its federalist structure, which he understood to result from an admixture of contractual and natural-law principles. Althusius’ main contribution, in Gierke’s words, was “to give logical unity to the federal ideas that simmered in the ecclesiastical and political circles in which he lived, and to construct an audacious system of thought in which they all found their place.” Gierke believed, however, that he could discern deist and rationalist elements in Althusius’ system that arose from his supposed sequestering of religious belief from political theory. First published as "Johannes Althusius und die Entwicklung der naturrechtlichen Staatstheorien; zugleich ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Rechtssystematik", Breslau, 1880; First US edition, "The Development of Political Theory", New York, W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1939, translated by Bernard Freyd 364 pp.; First Italian edition, Torino, Einaudi, 1943, 8vo, XII - 252 pp., curated by Antonio Giolitti… (plus d'informations)