Abstract

This paper develops two main claims: first, the public law/private law divide is a «great dichotomy», as Bobbio puts it, in the history of legal thinking, since it offers two irreconcilable images of law and society. As such, it can be linked to other well-known binary taxonomies proposed in legal, philosophical and sociological discourse. Second, although this divide acquired its full meaning at the origin of modern society, it still appears to be a valid tool for interpreting historical as well as current legal and political issues.