The Theory of the Normativity of a Legal Norm in Hegel’s Elements of the Philosophy of Right

This article aims to split Hegel’s Elements of the Philosophy of Right into three distinct types of logic: the first of a general-practical nature; the second of a political-legal nature, centred around the concept of recognition and penal sanctions; the third of a strictly legal nature. While the first of these types of logic is resolved in the attempt to identify the general-practical problem of freedom in the concept of law, the other two represent a rough draft of the theory of the validity of each legal norm considered in its own right. In this way, by identifying the problem of freedom in the idea of law, Hegel would appear to have grasped the distinction which has become fundamental in the general theory of contemporary law, namely, the distinction between the concept and the validity of law.