Eckardt Buchholz-Schuster

The global situation in the 2020s gives rise to various great concerns: democratic constitutional states, human rights, international law and planetary health are increasingly under threat. This results in potentially new topics for an applied philosophy of law, which are outlined in this article from a German perspective. On a substantive level, these include extreme injustice through state and supranational omission, civil disobedience, the legitimation and defense of constitutional and international law, and on a methodological level, the need for clarification in terms of decision theory, argumentation theory and empirical research. Such an intensified legal philosophical treatment of current social and political issues requires an attitude that aims to project social and political impact and addresses relevant actors beyond its specialist community. This paper also argues for such an attitude within applied legal philosophy.

Legal philosophy has long grappled with the question of what constitutes “right law” and how it may be identified and realized. In the German context, this debate has been shaped predominantly by juristic rather than philosophical approaches. This contribution reframes the discussion by focusing on legal qualities as experience-based, context-dependent attributes of law and its application, which are not necessarily moral in nature. It argues that such qualities emerge from subjective expectations shaped by professional, societal, political, and historical contexts rather than from universally verifiable standards. Legal qualities are examined on three levels: philosophical (moral evaluation of law), methodological (quality of legal application), and legal-political (purposiveness of legislation and adjudication). These dimensions are illustrated through the natural law-legal positivism debate and the contested interface between legal methodology and social work.

Applied legal philosophy in the advancing 21st century. Authors from different continents explore whether, how, and for whom legal-philosophical thinking can have an impact in light of the diverse and sometimes alarming developments and challenges facing today’s world. Their contributions include application-oriented analyses, concepts of decision-making and legitimation, as well as legal-ethical guidance and positioning in response to current international problems. They also reflect on the prospective role of legal philosophy in a globalized world and its relationship to society, politics, and international law. With contributions by Prof. Dr. Eckardt Buchholz-Schuster | Dr. Adela Gąsiorowska | Prof. Dr. Daniel Herbe | Prof. Heidi M. Hurd | Dr. Hyungjoon Jun | Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stephan Kirste | Dr. Hyun Jung Lee | Prof. Win-Chiat Lee | Prof. John Murungi | Dr. Oche Onazi | Dr. Jordan Pascoe | Prof. Dr. Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco | Prof. Juan Pablo Sterling Casas | Full Professor el Philosohy of Law. Prof. Dra. Leonor Suárez -Llanos | Dr. Derk Venema.

Historischer Umbruch und rechtlicher Aufbruch – zunächst nach 1945, Jahrzehnte später dann wieder nach 1989 sollte auf deutschem Boden das eine reflektiert und das andere vollzogen werden. Schwierigste Balanceakte zwischen politischer Reflexion und Rechtsverwirklichung hatten dabei jene Juristen zu bestehen, die direkt oder indirekt mit der strafrechtlichen Aufarbeitung von Systemunrecht betraut waren. Aus dieser Zwickmühle führte der methodische und argumentative Pfad zumeist geradewegs in die Gefilde der Philosophie. In der wiederholten epochalen Flucht hiesiger Rechtspraxis in rechtsphilosophische Kategorien liegt eine auffällige rechtsgeschichtliche Kontinuität, die mit der vorliegenden Arbeit inhaltlich und funktional auf den Begriff gebracht werden soll. Zu diesem Zweck werden schriftliche Beiträge und Gerichtsentscheidungen der Jahre 1945-1950 und 1990-1995 eingehend analysiert. Im Vergleich beider Epochen und nach Ausblendung aller inhaltlichen und rechtspolitischen Differenzen erweist sich rechtliche Kritik an der jeweiligen Vergangenheit als zentrales Merkmal praxisbezogener rechtsphilosophischer Legitimationsleistungen. Von dieser Erkenntnis ausgehend wendet sich ein letzter, zur Korrektur gängiger Vorurteile angetretener interdisziplinärer Abschnitt der Arbeit an Rechtspraxis, kritische Rechtswissenschaft, Rechtsphilosophie und Rechtstheorie der Gegenwart. Historical upheaval and legal awakening - first after 1945, then decades later again after 1989, lawyers in Germany were called upon to reflect on the former and implement the latter. The most difficult balancing act between political reflection and legal implementation had to be performed by those lawyers who were directly or indirectly entrusted with the criminal prosecution of systemic injustice. From this dilemma, the methodological and argumentative path usually led straight into the realm of philosophy. The repeated epochal flight of local legal practice into categories of legal philosophy reveals a striking continuity in legal history, which this work aims to capture in terms of content and function. To this end, written contributions and court decisions from the years 1945-1950 and 1990-1995 are analyzed in detail. Comparing both eras and disregarding all differences in content and legal policy, legal criticism of the respective past proves to be a central feature of practice-oriented legal-philosophical legitimation efforts. Based on this insight, a final interdisciplinary section of the work, which aims to correct common prejudices, turns to contemporary legal practice, critical jurisprudence, legal philosophy, and legal theory.

The maritime distress of migrants on the high seas and the anthropogenic climate change represent two of the most significant humanitarian and political challenges of our time. Referring to the Radbruch formula, this paper examines the question of whether state and supranational failure to act on these two complex problems can be classified as extreme injustice from a legal ethical perspective, and what minimum ethical requirements this would imply for states and communities of states. A plea is made for the development and use of corresponding analyses and discourses as normative guidance - doing applied legal philosophy, not only for migrant and climate protection politics, but also for law makers and public discourse.