Eric Voegelin’s Project of a Staatslehre and Its Overtaking in “Race and State”: for a Wider Understanding of “Political” Reason

This article analyses Eric Voegelin's overcoming of Hans Kelsen's concept of Staatslehre. Through a critical analysis of Kelsen's theory of the pure law Voegelin argues that a theory of the state should be based on philosphical anthropology rather than on a theory of costitutional law. This awareness represents a crucial schift in Voegelin's thought, leading him to consider political ideas in their historical and symbolic development.