Liberal legal forms protect individual liberty beyond capitalist economic needs

Evidence

The generality of the law, the independence of judges, and the doctrine of the separation of powers, have, therefore, functions transcending the needs of competitive capitalism, since they secure personal liberty and personal equality. The generality of the law and the independence of judges veil the power of one stratum of society; they render exchange processes calculable and create also personal freedom and security for the poor. All three functions are significant and not only, as is maintained by the critics of liberalism, that of rendering economic processes calculable. We repeat, all three functions are realized in the period of competitive capitalism, but it is of importance to discriminate between them. If one does not draw these distinctions, and sees in the generality of law, nothing but a requirement of capitalist economy, then of course, one must infer with Carl Schmitt that the general law, the independence of judges, and the separation of powers, must be abolished when capitalism dies. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 248

Categorization

• DEFINE: Neumann’s analytic distinction between the economic calculability function of law and its liberty/equality functions is a core Frankfurt School legal-theory concept worth pinning down.
• XREF: A direct alternative to the purely instrumental Marxist reading of law; connects to the later discussion of Neumann’s Behemoth and to Schmitt’s critique of liberal legality. — connects to: Liberal legal forms have progressive functions beyond serving capitalist calculation — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 933; Monopoly capitalism replaces liberal-legal institutions with irrational totalitarian authority — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 402; Legal prohibitions against state control create real personal freedoms (+2 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 248

Broader Connections

• Liberal legal forms have progressive functions beyond serving capitalist calculation #corroborates (0.95) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 933
• Legal prohibitions against state control create real personal freedoms #exemplifies (0.75)
• Monopoly capitalism replaces liberal-legal institutions with irrational totalitarian authority #corroborates (0.72) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 402