Legal Definitions - jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the study, knowledge, or science of law. It is the philosophy of law that seeks to analyze, explain, classify, and criticize entire bodies of law. There are four common types of jurisprudence:

• The first type analyzes and criticizes entire bodies of law.
• The second type compares and contrasts law with other fields of knowledge.
• The third type seeks to reveal the historical, moral, and cultural basis of a particular legal concept.
• The fourth type focuses on finding the answer to abstract questions about law and how judges decide cases.

There are also different schools of jurisprudence:

• Formalism treats law like math or science, while legal realism believes that judges must balance the interests of the parties and draw an arbitrary line on one side of the dispute.
• Positivists argue that there is no connection between law and morality and that the only sources of law are rules that have been expressly enacted by a governmental entity or court of law. Naturalists insist that moral philosophy, religion, human reason, and individual conscience are also integral parts of the law.

Other prominent schools of legal thought include critical legal studies, feminist jurisprudence, law and economics, utilitarianism, and legal pragmatism.

For example, a formalist judge would identify the relevant legal principles, apply them to the facts of a case, and logically deduce a rule that will govern the outcome of the dispute. In contrast, a legal realist judge would balance the interests of the parties and draw an arbitrary line on one side of the dispute based on their political, economic, and psychological inclinations. A positivist would argue that the only sources of law are rules that have been expressly enacted by a governmental entity or court of law, while a naturalist would insist that moral philosophy, religion, human reason, and individual conscience are also integral parts of the law.