CASTING THE LIGHT OF THE THEORY OF OPPOSITION ONTO HOHFELD'S FUNDAMENTAL LEGAL CONCEPTS

João Alberto de Oliveira Lima, Cristine Griffo, João Paulo A. Almeida, Giancarlo Guizzardi, Marcio Iorio Aranha
2021 Legal Theory  
At the core of Hohfeld's contribution to legal theory is a conceptual framework for the analysis of the legal positions occupied by agents in intersubjective legal relations. Hohfeld presented a system of eight "fundamental" concepts relying on notions of opposition and correlation. Throughout the years, a number of authors have followed Hohfeld in applying the notion of opposition to analyze legal concepts. Many of these authors have accounted for Hohfeld's theory in direct analogy with the
more » ... ndard deontic hexagon. This paper reviews some of these accounts and extends them employing recent developments from opposition theory. In particular, we are able to extend application of opposition theory to an open conception of the law. We also account for the implications of abandoning the assumption of conflict-freedom and admitting seemingly conflicting legal positions. This enables a fuller analysis of Hohfeld's conceptual analytical framework. We also offer a novel analysis of Hohfeld's power positions.
doi:10.1017/s1352325221000070 fatcat:x4ssjnayija2dk6h4ljl4q2zva