Much has been said about the intellectual ferment that characterized late 19 century
and early 20 century Vienna. Of particular interest are the intersections between the
various circles that operated in Vienna at that time. Having done some work on two of
the most radical currents that operated in Vienna, namely the Zionists and the
psychoanalysts, I became aware of yet another, equally radical, current that circled
around the Psychological Wednesday Society. I am referring to the legal theorists
(and more specifically the legal positivists) whose most distinguished representative is
Hans Kelsen.
A Brush with the Law: The Encounter between Hans Kelsen and Sigmund Freud. Paper read in December 2003 at the international conference ‘Trauma and Memory: Subjective&Collective Experiences Legal, Medical and Cultural Perspectives. Bar Ilan University. Israel.