Major Branches of Philosophical Study, Legal Theory & Philosophy
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Overview
Jurisprudence offers a comprehensive overview of legal theory and philosophy. Written in plain English, it examines and demystifies the discipline's major ideas, promoting a deeper understanding of the social, moral and economic dimensions of the law. It critically assesses the major schools of jurisprudential thought throughout history and to the present, from Plato and Aristotle to Enlightenment thinkers, postmodernists and economic analysts. The book challenges students to reconsider their moral intuitions in light of established theories. This edition examines recent debates and literature in legal philosophy. It features new material on scientific advances in cognition and human behaviour in relation to the law. The book expands significantly on its discussion of natural law theory, evolutionary jurisprudence and theories of justice. Special attention is paid to the revival of theological natural law, challenges to legal positivism, assessments of Scandinavian realism and critiques of law and economics from the Austrian economic perspective.Editorials
From the Publisher
"Professor Ratnapala's book … [provides] … an accessible overview of the various schools of thought, and of their place in the history of ideas, while also identifying, with a respectfully light touch, the deficiencies in the effort of each school to explain what it is that the courts are doing and why they are doing it. Professor Ratnapala's wide-ranging survey provides a comprehensive study of all the schools of jurisprudence, while at the same time avoiding the temptation to accord some of these schools only a superficial treatment. It will be a useful book for students and for practising lawyers interested in knowing what the students are banging on about. Hopefully, that means all of us. Speaking for myself again, I particularly appreciated the gentle but effective discussion of the place of the school of critical legal studies in the jurisprudential firmament."--Hon. Justice Patrick Keane, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Queensland
Book Details
Published
August 31, 2013
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Pages
416
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781107612570