Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence offers a comprehensive and accessible 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 about the law in light of established and emerging 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, critiques of law and economics from the Austrian economic perspective and the continuing relevance of Enlightenment moral philosophy.
Fully revised and updated, this book remains an essential resource for students of jurisprudence and legal philosophy.
Suri Ratnapala is Professor of Public Law at the University of Queensland and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.