Stanford-Hamburg Conference on Historical Trajectories in Foundations of Law from the 12th to 20th Century

The question of the basis and origin of law received very different answers in the 12th to 20th centuries. Starting with medieval Christian natural law, there were various different theoretical approaches in the 17th and 18th centuries that were based on natural law and rationalism. This optimistic era, which led to the first modern codifications, was followed by a sharp departure in the late 19th and early 20th century towards positivism, which was based on epistemological skepticism. After the catastrophe of the Second World War, natural law thinking experienced a renaissance in Germany but the mood tilted towards a pragmatic positivism and a remarkable disinterest in the foundations of law at the end of the 20th century. In the common-law world, a variety of approaches were developed, pitting positivism against interpretivist approaches focused more immediately on moral and social consequences. The resulting differences between common law and, in particular, German legal thinking, is evident not least from the very different approaches taken to legal education.

This conference will shed light on the various factors that explain these developments in legal thought, as well as their consequences—looking both at the law in the books and the law in action. At a moment when the post-war foundations of liberal democratic regimes in the West are under severe challenge from both ends of the political spectrum, this conference provides a timely opportunity to revisit the core question of how we justify and explain legal authority.

Hosts:
Prof. Dr. Matthias Armgardt, University of Hamburg
Prof. Dr. Amalia D. Kessler, Stanford Law School
Prof. Dr. Saskia Lettmaier, University of Hamburg

Date:	March 23-24, 2026
Location:	Monday, March 23:	Warburghaus, Heilwigstrasse 116, 20249 Hamburg
	Tuesday, March 24:	Warburghaus, Heilwigstrasse 116, 20249 Hamburg
Contact:	Chaofeng Chen

Cf. Flyer  and Poster with Programme for the Conference: Flyer and Poster

Speakers: 

Monday:

• Monday, March 23, 9:30
  'Opening Remarks'
  Prof. Dr. Tilman Repgen
  ^{Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Hamburg}

Middle Ages: moderated by Prof. Dr. Werner Rieß

• Monday, March 23, 10:15
  'A Textual Republic: Jurists, Authority, and the Making of Western Legal Normativity'
  Prof. Dr. Emanuele Conte
  ^{Professor for Jurisprudence, Roma Tre University}
• Monday, March 23, 11:45
  'Canon Law, Secular Law or Just Medieval Law? Law in Thirteenth Century Scandinavia'
  Prof. Dr. Helle Vogt
  ^{Professor for Nordic Law and Legal Practice, University of Copenhagen}

Early Modern: moderated by Prof. Dr. Martin Sunnqvist

• Monday, March 23, 14:00
  'Leibniz’s Concept of Natural Law'
  Prof. Dr. Matthias Armgardt
  ^{Nucleus Professor for Global Legal History, Private Law and Computational Legal Theory, University of Hamburg}

19th and 20th Century: moderated by Prof. Dr. Jochen Bung

• Monday, March 23, 15:30
  'Enlightenment Reasoning and the Law of Marriage:
  Britain and the German Lands in the 18th Century'
  Prof. Dr. Saskia Lettmaier
  ^{Professor for Private Law and Global Legal History with a focus on Common Law, University of Hamburg}

Tuesday:

19th and 20th Century: moderated by Prof. Dr. Mattias Wendel

• Tuesday, March 24, 9:00
  'Legal Realism and the American Turn to Arbitration'
  Prof. Dr. Amalia Kessler
  ^{Lewis Talbot and Nadine Hearn Shelton Professor of International Legal Studies, Stanford Law School}
• Tuesday, March 24, 10:30
  'Between Law and Democracy: Shifting Justification for Executive Power'
  Prof. Dr. Bernadette Meyler
  ^{Carl and Sheila Spaeth Professor of Law, Stanford Law School}
• Tuesday, March 24, 12:00
  'The German Sonderweg in Defining Property and
  the Political Economy of German Welfare Capitalism'
  Prof. Dr. Marietta Auer 
  ^{Director of Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory}

19th and 20th Century: moderated by Prof. Dr. Stefan Oeter

• Tuesday, March 24, 14:00
  'Gustav Radbruch’s Legal Philosophy'
  Prof. Dr. Martin Borowski
  ^{Professor for Public Law, Constitutional Theory and Legal Philosophy, Heidelberg University}
• Tuesday, March 24, 15:30
  'Kelsen on the Foundations of Law'
  Prof. Dr. Pierluigi Chiassoni
  ^{Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Genoa}