Obligation and Claim in Dogmatics, General Theory, and Philosophy of Law

I have already had the opportunity in other essays ¹ to talk about the insufficiency of obligation as a key concept in defining juridical norm, and, more profoundly, the insufficiency of the very concept of juridical norm as a key concept in defining law. I then proposed a concept—that of claim—which appeared more satisfactory to me because it seemed both a landing platform in the analysis of the concept of “juridical” obligation and a logical instrument for explaining how those “juridical norms” that constitute—or appear to constitute—the absolute point of departure are formed. Those norms are the point of departure not only for dogmatic jurisprudence, but also for many if not all of what we refer to as general theories of law.