Abstract

This short essay deals with the various criticisms leveled by Nicola Matteucci against legal positivism, especially in the version defended by Norberto Bobbio. It argues that Matteucci’s critical stance has indeed some merits, which have gone almost entirely unnoticed in the debate on legal positivism that unfolded in those years. At the same time, the essay points to some aspects in Matteucci’s position that may produce a serious misunderstanding of both legal positivism and constitutionalism