Looking at the state of research on Karl Marx's work it is immediately apparent that very
little attention has been paid to law in particular. This is all the more remarkable given that
Marx first came into contact with the socio-political problems of his time as a student of law
and only later became closely intertwined with the philosophy of Hegel. Contrary to the mostly
systematic considerations of law in Marx's work to date this work chooses a different approach
by reconstructing his legal thinking starting from its roots Hegel's philosophy of law and its
further development by Eduard Gans and presenting it in its ongoing development. The method of
developmental history is not limited to the main writings of the oeuvre but also includes the
peripheral parts of the work. This is the first comprehensive reconstruction of the history of
the development of legal thought which not only succeeds in documenting the constant relevance
of law in Marx's thinking but also his adherence to Hegel's philosophy of law including its
specific connection between law and freedom.
