Reality Discourses in Private Law Scholarship 1848–1870

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hans-Peter Haferkamp
• Subject Area: Principles of Law and Jurisprudence
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 571337504

A modern history of private law scholarship between 1848 and 1900 has not yet been authored. Historiography still concentrates on “great men”, in particular Rudolf v. Jhering, even though this type of historical writing has long been subject to methodological and ideological criticism. For the applicant’s planned monograph on Pandectist scholarship (1848-1900), planned as discourse history/discourse-oriented history, two supporting sub-projects are hereby proposed, which aim to examine the discourses on reality in the early years of the period of study, specifically 1848 to 1870. Project 1 will analyse the discourse within Pandectist scholarship on the reality of the continued existence of Roman law prior to Jhering’s transition to “purpose in law” (from 1865 onwards). Project 2 will expand the scope to private law as a whole to inquire into the persistence of Hegelian positions in private law scholarship after 1848.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants