Today marks the 223rd anniversary of Friedrich Julius Stahl’s birth. In honor of this day, we will lift veil a bit and inform you that, Deo volente, WordBridge this year will be publishing the second edition of his book The Doctrine of State and the Principles of State Law, which contains his treatment of constitutionalism – forms of government, monarchy versus republicanism, representative institutions – and public law, chiefly administrative and international. Of especial interest is his presentation of the history of representative institutions in the Western polities. It is perhaps the best treatment of this subject available, it being alive to the Burkean conceptualization of the ancient, prescriptive constitution and how this was transformed into modern constitutionalism. It thus transcends the simplistic Whiggish account of “the triumph of democracy over tyranny,” showing the continuity of Christian constitutionalism from the medieval to the modern age. The second edition will include both corrections to the first edition and additional translated material not included in the first edition.
We should also mention that WordBridge intends to publish a complete hardback set of the entire Philosophy of Law, comprising both the history of legal philosophy and the four books of The Doctrine of Law and State. These are to be published in 3 matching volumes, just as the German-language volumes were originally published.
Stay tuned to this channel for further developments!