School of Thought means grouping similar thoughts given by various philosophers on any particular subject in one group. School of Thought in jurisprudence is the different groups of jurists that define and describe law differently.
Six School of Thoughts
There are major six schools of thought. They are important to understand the meaning of law. They are discussed below:
1) Natural School: The father of this school is Aristotle. According to this school of thought, "law is the dictate of reasons." It believes that natural law is the seed of all other laws. This school of thought tells us that law is rational and reasonable. Hugo, Grotius, Thomas Aquinas, Cicero, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero, etc. are the philosophers of natural law school.
Natural law is believed to be a rational foundation for moral judgment. This school argues that natural law is binding over all period of time and if land-made law goes against natural law then man-made law is not valid. The time period of Natural law school is divided into four parts. They are as follows:
I. Ancient Period: It is the starting point of Natural law school. In this period, Greeks gave the idea of Natural law and Romans developed the concept of Natural law. The jurists of this period were Socrates, Aristotle, Saint Aquinas and Cicero etching.
In this period, Socrates gave his idea that humans possess the capacity to distinguish good from bad. Aristotle interpreted law as discovery by reason and eternal principles of justice.
II. Medieval Period: During this period, laws were related to the superior God, church and religion. Thomas Aquinas was a popular jurist of this period. In this period, there was a rule father of the church. Law-making power was in their hands.
III. Renaissance Period: In this period, scientific development and industrialization were started and the fathers of the church were unable to control society and regulate the society. So Due to this, the dominance of the church was overthrown. Society is regulated based on the 'Social Contract Theory'.
Social Contract Theory explains that man who were living freely according to their own circumstances entered into a contract to form a group or community for protection of life and property which was known as Pactum Unions. The supporters of Social Contract Theory were Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Rousseau.
IV. Revival of Natural Law: During the 19th Century, the natural law theory was failing to regulate society because of changes in society due to industrialization and development. So Natural law theory was again revived by the end of the 19th Century. Revival of Natural theory accepted some practical techniques of problem-solving. Lon Fuller wrote his book 'Inner Morality of Law' in this period.
2) Analytical School: The founder of this school was Jeremy Bentham and Austin is the father of this school. According to this school, "Law is the command of the sovereign. " It believes that if there is no sovereign, there is no law. This school is also known as positive school, imperative school etc. The supporters of this school were H.L.A Hart, Salmond, Kelson, Holland etc.
Important Points Keep in mind
Austin: Austin is the father of the Analytical School. This School is also known as Positive School, Austinian School, Imperative School and so on. It is said Imperative school because it says that if you do not obey the law then you will be punished.
Austin gave his 'Command Theory' and according to this theory, Law is the command of the sovereign backed by sanctions. It means if there is no sovereign then there is no law. Only sovereign-made law is law. Austin also wrote 'Province of Jurisprudence Determined'.
Bentham: Bentham is the founder of the Analytical School. He was also known as the founding father of the Analytical School. He gave his ' Utility Theory' also known as 'Theory of Utilitarianism' which says that law is made for the maximum happiness of the maximum number of people. Bentham also wrote 'Limit of Jurisprudence Defined'.
Kelson: Kelson is one of the popular jurist of Positive School. He developed the 'Pure Theory of Law'. In this, He used the term 'grudnorm' in his theory. Grud means great and norms means law, so it means a great law. The superior authority from which laws come out. He compared grudnorm with the Constitution. According to him, the Constitution is the highest authority in the country which is known as grudnorm.
H.L.A Hart: Law is the collection of primary and secondary rules. Primary rules mean imposing legal duty and secondary rules mean conferring power.
3) Historical School: Savigny is the father of this school. According to this school of thought, "Law is not made but found." This school believes that like language and culture, law grows with society and dies with society. Historical School is the bridge between the past and present status of law. The supporters of this school were Sir Henry Maine, Montesquieu and Puchhta etc.
Montesquieu: Law is the creation of climate, society, local situation, accident or imposture. There is a most famous saying by him, 'Law is not made but found.' According to him, the law is not made by the sovereign. They only recognize laws found inconsistent in society and enforce them.
Savigny: Savigny is the father of the Historical Law School. He developed the 'Volksgeist Theory' which means 'spirit of people' or human consciousness. According to him, the development of law is a continuous and unbreakable process. He also added that law develops like a language. A language is different from society to society and in language, some changes will occur from time to time. In the same way, law is not a universal character and law is different from society to society.
Henry Maine: Henry Maine gave some different ideas from other jurists. He studied law by dividing law into different parts. He talked about static society and progressive society. He said that Law at its origin is related to religion and then developed along with custom, command of sovereign, code and philosophical theory, equity and fiction. To him, the society in which law is limited to code is static and in which law is still developed by equity and fiction is called a progressive society.
4) Sociological School: According to this school of thought, "Law is social engineering." This school of thought is also called functional jurisprudence because it deals with the practical of law in problem-solving. Social engineering means balancing the conflicting interests of society. The supporters of the Sociological School of Jurisprudence are August Conte, Eugen Ehrlich, Roscoe Pound and Duguit.
Roscoe Pound: Roscoe Pound is known as the father of American Jurisprudence. He said that the study of society is important for law-making. The main aim of making law is to balance the conflicting interests of society I.e. social interest, private interest and public interest. He developed Social Engineering Theory.
Social Engineering Theory: He compared lawyers with engineers. Engineers are required to use their engineering skills to manufacture new products. Similarly, social engineers are required to build that type of structure in the society which provides maximum happiness and minimum friction. According to Pound, "Law is social engineering which means a balance between the competing interests in society ",
Theory of Interest: Ihering Pound in his interest theory mentioned the three kinds of Interest. There are Private interest, Public interest and Social interest.
Auguste Comte: He was a French philosopher and the term sociology was first used by him. According to him, society is like an organism and it can progress when it is guided by scientific principles.
Durkheim: Durkheim propounded his Social Solidarity Theory which explains the social cooperation between individuals for their needs and existence. No one can survive without depending on other men. The objective of law is to promote social solidarity between individuals.
Ehrlich: He was the founding father of the term sociology of law. Sociology of law is the study of law from the sociological perspective. Ehrlich had written that the 'center of gravity of all legal developments is not in legislation or judicial decisions but in society itself." He argued that society is the main source of law and a better source of law than legislation and judicial decisions.
Rudolf Von Ihering: He is the father of the modern sociological school. He gave Interest Theory and His philosophy was also known as Jurisprudence of Interest. According to him, the prominent objective of law is to protect social interest. He cleared that if the private interest and social interest are conflicting then social interest must be protected. He also said that if society is happy so will be individuals.
5) Realist School: The supporters of this school were Holmes, Gray, Frank and so on. According to this school, "Law is the practice of court." This school of thought believes that only judge-made law is law. It gives importance to judge-made law. This school of thought is regarded as a wing of the Sociological School. This school focuses on what the judges say and decide. Realist School is divided into two parts i.e. American Realism and Scandinavian Realism.
American Realism is related to pragmatists and behaviorists also emphasizing law into action. It is rule skeptic. It is concerned with the court and its operations. The certainty of law is a myth.
Scandinavian Realism assaults on the metaphysical foundation of law. It is a metaphysical skeptic. It is concerned with embracing the legal system whole.
6) Socialist School: According to this school of thought, "Law is an instrument of exploitation and nomination." The Socialist School of is also known as Marxist School, Communism School, or Communists School etching. The Socialist School is based on the theory of Karl Marx.
This school believes that law is made to exploit poor people by rich people. Karl Marx, Fredrich Engels, and Lenin are the chief supporters of this school. The Socialist School of Thought is based on dialectical materialism. It also says the law is made for the protection of economic class. Pashukin - Commodity Exchange Theory
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