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Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Students of jurisprudence aim to understand the fundamental nature of law, and to analyze its purpose, structure, and application. Jurisprudential scholars (sometimes confusingly referred to as "jurists") hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the law, the kind of power that it exercises, and its role in human societies. At a practical level, some jurists hope to improve society by studying what the law is, what it ought to be, and how it actually operates. They seek a deeper understanding behind law's seemingly unpredictable and uncertain nature.
Starting point
The common starting point in understanding jurisprudence is the objective of law to achieve justice. The positive law, embodied in the written legal statutes and case law of a jurisdiction, is used as the foundation to 'test' philosophical theories against. Hence, the arguable scientific nature of jurisprudence. The three most distinct views of law and justice (however there are literally hundreds of viewpoints) are legal positivism, natural law and legal interpretivism. Positivism simply means that the law is something that is 'posited': laws are validly made in accordance with socially accepted rules. Laws may seek to enforce justice, morality, or any other normative end, but their success or failure in doing so does not determine their validity. Providing a law is properly formed, in accordance with the rules recognized in the society concerned, it is a valid law, whether or not it is just by some other standard. Another principle is that law is nothing more than a set of rules to provide order and governance of society. Hence the most inhumane or unjust enactment must be obeyed (from the standpoint of the legal system, if not from a moral standpoint). Critics of the law should lobby for law reform but must still respect the letter of the law, or at least not deny that it is validly made law.
In contrast, natural law is closely associated with morality and, for theist views, the intentions of God. To oversimplify its concepts somewhat, natural law theory attempts to identify a moral compass to guide the lawmaking power of the state. Feelings or notions of what is right and wrong underlie natural law. What is right or wrong can vary according to the interests one is focussed upon. Natural law typically claims that 'an unjust law is no law at all' and some natural law theorists believe that any injustice will be rectified by the 'higher powers'.
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Constitution Society - Dedicated to research and public education on the principles of constitutional republican government.
Meta Description: [ Comprehensive collection of constitutional materials, including books, articles, and tools. ]
Deborah Charles Publications - Abstracts of articles on legal theory.
Legal History and Philosophy - Quotes from important persons, texts and documents, in the area of legal history and philosophy.
Meta Description: [ Mostly quotes of important persons in legal history and philosophy, or
quotes from texts written about such persons, or quotes from important or renowned documents. ]
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Legal Information Institute - About...Jurisprudence - An overview of jurisprudence, the philosophy of law, with additional resources on critical legal studies and feminist jurisprudence.
Legal Theory - Information and materials on legal theory from JURIST: The Law Professors' Network.
Meta Description: [ Legal Theory guide from JURIST: The Law Professors' Network. ]
Longang Institute - Reference Library - Significant historical legal writings.
Meta Description: [ Significant writings in the natural law tradition (alphabetical by author). ]
The Law Fleet - Discussion forums dedicated to discussing law, and the philosophical foundations of justice.
Meta Description: [ LAW North Carolina Navy: For
Discussing LAW ]
The law of logic - Summary of the logical consequences of an agreement to communicate, and its impact on the law.
Meta Description: [ Description of logical consequences of an agreement to communicate by means of language. In particular for the law. ]
The Nature of Law - Survey of theories on the conditions of legal validity including natural law theories and legal positivism, from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
ThirdAmendment.com - A collection of articles on a variety of legal issues.
Meta Description: [ Archive of articles by Jol Silversmith. ]
| Delivered by Professor Roger Cotterrell, Anniversary Professor of Legal Theory;Queen Mary, University of London ... | |
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