¿El derecho tiene algún sentido? Reconstrucción y proyección de la tradición jurídica como elemento del proceso civilizatorio occidental

Abstract

The history of Law as theory and practice has been reconstructed since multiple perspectives, each one with its own methodological and ideological assumptions. The Civilization Theory provides a promising framework to such a reconstruction, for it involves three key elements: the actions of the agent (personal conscience), the formation of anonymus and autopoietical structures (collective conscience), and the developments in the long-term which give rise to new figurations. In doing so, Law arises as a fundamental task to the western civilizing process, due to it is a result of a figuration that involves the agent and the structure in a particular way which prefers the peaceful settlement to conflicts. Supplementary, those developments in the long-term giving rise to a privileged place for the Law in societies are reconstructed since a history of mentalities perspective: premodern, modern, and postmodern.