Il paradosso di Alexy : una critica all’argomento della pretesa di correttezza

The claim to correctness – an argument proposed by Robert Alexy – has often been considered as one of the strongest proofs for the thesis that there are necessary connections between law and morals. In the present essay, we endeavour to develop a critical analysis of this argument. More specifically, we shall explore the thesis that there is a necessary qualifying connection between every single norm and the claim to correctness: by means of this connection, every speech act that issues a norm necessarily raises a claim to correctness; accordingly, if we issue a norm and, at the same time, deny explicitly its correctness, we end up by producing a performative contradiction that makes the norm defective. Against Alexy’s view we shall maintain that in this case there is not performative contradiction at all: that the claim to correctness has nothing to deal with the (normative version of) Moore’s paradox. Finally, we will argue that our results apply also to legal norms.