Content and Competence

A Descriptive Approach to the Concept of Rights

by Jakob Weissinger

Book cover: Content and Competence

Extent: 269 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Law

Series: Rechtstheorie

Series volume number: 1

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(October 2019)

ISBN: 9783161570308

Price: $93.00

On back order

~ENG~Jakob Weissinger unpicks a central problem in jurisprudence – the concept of rights – by examining other core concepts of normative practice and how they are interwoven. The result is a stand-alone theory which fundamentally questions established approaches.


Just what is a right? Jakob Weissinger approaches this central problem of jurisprudence by critically examining the purpose of such normative concepts and carefully analysing the fundamental elements of normative practice like actions, decisions, the logic of norms and values as well as the plurality of normative practice. Interlinking the insights won, he outlines a stand-alone theory of rights which emphasises the empowering dimension of rights in the process of justifying (legal) rules. Not only does he question well-established theories, such as Hohfeld’s famous analysis of legal conceptions, but aspires to set future debates in legal theory, especially those surrounding rights such as the long-standing dispute between interest and choice theories of rights, on new and more solid meta-theoretical ground.

  • By (author) Jakob Weissinger