However, this does not imply that Hägerström argues that rights or duties do not exist. His idea is that the traditional view of the law (according to which law, on the one hand, is an actual expression of the state’s actual will, and on the other, consists of objectively [pre]existing rights and duties binding the legislator in his legislative activity) does not correspond to reality.70 An inevitable corollary of the incongruity between theory and fact as well as lack of theoretical correspondence to reality is that the only claim for legal authority that jurisprudence has, namely its scientific character, is undermined.This diminishes the veracity of jurisprudence as a branch of science as well as a source of law. Provided legal theory is an accepted source of law that shall provide the legal practitioners with guidance in their practical application of law, then it is safe to assume that the “merely” theoretical problems of law will invariably result in practical problems. To Hägerström, the only visible difference between natural law theory and legal positivismcenters on the issue of supreme authority, from whence law derives its binding power.71 But are there any real differences between the two theories with regards to p a r t v, c h a p t e r 2 312 wohl nicht bestimmen, ob wirklich eine Pflicht auf mir lastet oder ob ich wirklich eine innere Kraft besitze, um Dinge oder Personen zu beherrschen.Was ist übrigens der ‘Staat’, der das Recht geben soll, anderes als eine Menge von Menschen, die an ein gewisses Gebiet gebunden sind und gerade durch das Recht, d.h. inWirklichkeit durch besondere Handlungsregeln organisiert sind, welche eine tatsächliche Macht über die Gemüter haben? Im modernen Staatsbegriff kommt der alte Animismus stark zur Geltung. Der Staat wird ein Wille.”69 2 . 1 de f ini t ions of law: the real di f fe rence betwe en natural law and legal pos i t ivi sm 69 Hägerström, Selbstdarstellungen, p. 47. 70 Olivecrona, “Editor’s Preface,” pp. xxii-xxiv. 71 Hägerström, “Nehrman-Ehrenstråles uppfattning,” pp. 573-574; Recht, Pflicht etc, pp. 13-15.
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