ABSTRACT
T H E receptio n of Roman law in th e Middl e Ages and in modern times may properly be considered here, for it undoubtedly created a new and unique phase of juristic science. I t is clear in the firs t place tha t th e kin d o f juristic activit y whic h occupie s th e fore - ground in every indigenous legal development, i.e . the creation of norms fo r decisio n throug h universalization an d fre e finding o f law, thereafte r necessaril y ha d t o be thrus t int o th e background by the wealth of norms for decision which th e Roma n law books offered read y fo r use. Thi s appeared so much more clearly inasmuch as th e Roma n universalizations in part los t the character - istic quality of universalizations when Roman law was received . On the soi l on which i t had its origin, a universalization must b e felt a s what it actually is, i.e. as a universalization. Transplante d to a soil on which the phenomena tha t have been universalized do not occur, it ceases to be a universalization, it becomes a rule, occasionally appearin g t o b e quit e arbitrary , which know s neithe r universal nor particular, and according to which legal disputes ar e being decided. Th e whole Roman law, which had been given the force of law in this way, became a collection of juristic norms for decision. Wherea s i n Rome i t had grow n directly out o f life , i t now faced life as a fixed, immovable standard. Lega l life no longer was th e subjec t matte r o f juristi c science , a s i t i s t o a certai n degree in an indigenou s lega l development, bu t it s object. An d thereby juristi c scienc e became somethin g quit e differen t fro m what it had been before that time. I t now faced lif e as something approaching fro m without . I t undertoo k t o forc e rule s upo n society whic h i t had no t invente d itsel f bu t whic h i t had take n over fro m elsewhere , withou t an y though t o f whethe r societ y desired them or not, without any concern as to how society fared under them , simpl y because the y wer e i n existence . An d in a
great measur e I t ha s bee n successful . Th e grea t antinom y of juristic science, in the hands of which all modes of thought become forces tha t hav e th e powe r t o creat e norms , ha s agai n demon - strated it s historic significance.
