H ans K elsen's Concept of Normative Imputation

This article compares and contrasts Hans Kelsen's concept of normative imputation, in the L ecture C ourse of 1926, with the concepts of peripheral and central imputation, in T he P ure T heory of L aw of 1934. In this process, a wider and more significant distinction is revealed within the development of H ans K elsen's theory of positive law. This distinction represents a shift in K elsen's philosophical allegiance from the N eo‐ K antianism of W indelband to that of C ohen. This, in turn, reflects a broader disengagement of T he P ure T heory of L aw from the more direct connection with a political project of a civitas maxima envisaged by the L ecture C ourse.