I poteri nella teoria generale del diritto. L’eredità di Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld

This essay presents Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld’s theory of powers and, then, examines the most important and recent criticisms against it. In particular, two groups of objections are examined. The first group includes arguments of limited scope which, while highlighting some difficulties in Hohfeld’s account, are not sufficient to justify its abandonment. The second includes more radical criticisms, aimed at denying the very foundation of Hohfeld’s theses, namely the idea that power is an irreducible concept. I will attempt to argue that, while some of the arguments in the first group (but not all) are well-founded or partially well-founded, those in the second lend themselves to numerous counter-objections.