Legalismo: Derecho, moral y juicios políticos

by Judith N. Shklar

Las sociedades democráticas se enfrentan a diario a problemas políticos extraordinariamente delicados, y es fácil caer en la tentación de recurrir a los tribunales para zanjarlos de forma definitiva. Los ejemplos que nos ofrece la actualidad son infinitos: el proceso de independencia catalán, el aborto, la eutanasia, el matrimonio homosexual... Pero ¿es la ley de verdad una instancia inapelable, situada por encima de la política, que nos permite resolver todos los conflictos ideológicos? ¿Acaso no engendra este fetichismo jurídico su propia modalidad de terror e injusticia? Judith N. Shklar, una de las pensadoras más lúcidas y estimulantes de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, fue a lo largo de su vida una firme defensora de la democracia liberal. Sabía que los sistemas democráticos constituyen la única protección eficaz contra la arbitrariedad totalitaria de la que ella misma fue víctima. Era consciente también, sin embargo, de que la democracia no es un modelo político infalible y, con el fin de fortalecerla, consagró buena parte de su carrera a exponer sus carencias. En Legalismo, uno de los frutos más brillantes de ese proyecto intelectual, la autora nos alerta del riesgo que supone convertir la ley en el árbitro último de nuestras decisiones colectivas y olvidar su naturaleza contingente y política. La edición española de Legalismo viene precedida de un completo prólogo a cargo del filósofo Pau Luque -reciente ganador del Premio Anagrama de Ensayo- donde se ofrecen infinidad de claves para interpretar adecuadamente la polémica obra de Shklar, que ya generó un acalorado debate tras su publicación en 1964 y que todavía hoy resultará controvertida.

Genres: Law, Philosophy, Politics

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 1964

About the author

Judith Shklar was born as Judita Nisse in Riga, Latvia to Jewish parents. Because of persecution during World War II, her family fled Europe over Japan to the US and finally to Canada in 1941, when she was thirteen. She began her studies at McGill University at the age of 16, receiving bachelor of art and master of art degrees in 1949 and 1950, respectively. She later recalled that the entrance rules to McGill at the time required 750 points for Jews and 600 for everyone else. She received her PhD degree from Harvard University in 1955. Her mentor was the famous political theorist Carl Joachim Friedrich, who, she later recalled, only ever offered her one compliment: "Well, this isn't the usual thesis, but then I did not expect it to be." Eventually she became his successor.

Shklar joined the Harvard faculty in 1956, becoming the first woman to receive tenure in Harvard's Government Department in 1971. During her first year in the job, the Department permitted her to stay at home with her first child while writing her first book. When it came time for her tenure decision, the Department dithered, so Shklar proposed a half-time appointment with effective tenure and the title of lecturer, partly because she had three children by then. In 1980, she was appointed to be the John Cowles Professor of Government. Her friend and colleague Stanley Hoffmann once remarked, “she was by far the biggest star of the department.” Hoffmann also called her "the most devastatingly intelligent person I ever knew here."

During her career, Shklar served in various academic and professional capacities. For example, she was active in the committee that integrated the American Repertory Theater into the Harvard community.

Throughout her life, Judith Shklar was known as "Dita." She and her husband, Gerald Shklar, had three children, David, Michael, and Ruth

Reviews

[Pol Viñas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boníssim. Fa ràbia en molts moments com de brillant i rematadament bona arriba a ser Shklar. Al final li acabes donant la raó en moltes coses, llàstima que sigui liberal... Escriu molt bé (pel meu gust una mica enrevessat) i dóna moltíssima canya a tot Déu