Meaning, Nature, Purpose and Value of Jurisprudence | Jurisprudence - CLAT PG PDF Download

Definition and Meaning of Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the study of the Theory and Philosophy of Law. This article focuses on information concerning the subject. There are several ideas with regards to the meaning of jurisprudence and its nature.

• The term 'jurisprudence' has been derived from the Latin term 'jurisprudentia' which literally translates to 'knowledge of law' or 'skill in law'. The Roman civilization, which is popularly known as the bedrock of all human civilizations in the world, started to question the meaning and nature of law. Ulpian defined law as the "knowledge of things divine and human". According to him, the law is the science of right and wrong. Several jurists in Europe began to deliberate upon the meaning of the law.
• Jeremy Bentham, the Father of Jurisprudence, stated that the "science of jurisprudence" has nothing to do with ideas of good and bad. His disciple, Austin, defined jurisprudence in the following words, "Science of Jurisprudence is concerned with Positive Laws that is laws strictly so-called. It has nothing to do with the goodness or badness of law." According to him, laws are commands made by the sovereign and their non-obedience leads to imposition of sanctions. He termed such laws as positive law and stated that the main subject matter of jurisprudence is the study of positive laws. According to Holland, "Jurisprudence means the formal science of positive laws. It is an analytical science rather than a material science." Keeton defined jurisprudence as, "the study and systematic arrangement of the general principles of law."
• Jurisprudence is the study of the Theory and Philosophy of Law. The subject, in its entirety, differs from other social sciences. There are several ideas with regards to the meaning of jurisprudence and its nature. This makes it difficult to define. Each country has its own idea of jurisprudence shaped by the social and political conditions in which the development of law took place in that region. Modern jurisprudence is tied to sociology on one end and philosophy on the other. The ideas of jurisprudence that are popular in major legal systems throughout the world today have their origins in the West.

Jurisprudence versus Legal Theory

• One of the most interesting debates in jurisprudence has been with regards to the difference between jurisprudence and legal theory. It has been argued that while jurisprudence studies the legal concepts which may or may not be theoretical in nature, the legal theory deals with the philosophical aspects of the law.
• According to Friedmann, "All systematic thinking about legal theory is linked at one end with philosophy and at the other end with political theory."
• Salmond explains that the jurisprudence is concerned with investigating law while legal theory seeks to understand the law in a strictly academic manner. According to him, jurisprudence brings some important principles of law and legal concepts to light and legal theory attempts to study legal concepts in an academic manner to answer questions pertaining to meaning of law. 
• The subject matter of jurisprudence includes the study of concepts such as nature of law, legal systems, and legal institutions, etc. as well as the utility of concepts such as liberty, equality, neutrality, etc.
• Legal theory is concerned with the meaning of law and legal concepts and the philosophies which shape them such as- natural law and natural rights, legal positivism, legal realism, Marxism, feminist legal theory, postmodern legal theory, etc.

Evolution

• Jurisprudence originated in the Roman civilization with the Romans questioning the meaning and nature of law. It was quite limited since the concepts of law, morals and justice were confused with each other. 
• References are also made to the works of ancient Greek philosophers such as Homer, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the ideas of Roman and Greek jurisprudence disappeared, and the Christian State emerged. 
• Soon, the authority of the church over the state was challenged by the reformist and ideas of secularism emerged. Many theories were proposed with regards to the evolution and nature of 'state' by philosophers like Hugo Grotius, John Locke, Rousseau, and Blackstone. The Age of Reason in the 17^thCentury led to the formation of ideas of collectivism and social welfare. 
• Slowly, the idea of positive law and positivistic approach gained popularity whereby the boundaries of the law were demarcated, and its scope was limited.

Nature of Jurisprudence

• Law regulates significant aspects of human life. In simple terms, law is a set of regulations which are formulated by the state and are binding upon its subjects. Jurisprudence is the science of law. It has been described as the "grammar of law". To effectively interpret the law, it is essential to understand its origin, nature and meaning. 
• Not only interpretation, but even the legislative process requires legislators to keep several factors in mind to ensure that the law that is made is effectively enforced and followed by all. Jurisprudence studies the law to facilitate better legislation as well as interpretation. In doing so, it uses the wisdom provided by other social sciences.
• According to Paton, modern jurisprudence is mostly based on social sciences and philosophy since it examines the historical aspects of law to address the chaos created by conflicting legal systems. Describing jurisprudence as a "lawyer's extraversion", Julius Stone is of the opinion that the objective of jurisprudence is to view and examine law from the eyes of disciplines other than law. Roscoe Pound states that the subjects of jurisprudence, ethics, economics, politics, and sociology might be quite distinct at the core, however, at a certain point they overlap with each other. 
• He further adds on that it is impossible to understand their respective cores without studying this overlapping with other social sciences. According to him, all social sciences must especially co-work with jurisprudence. Let us evaluate the interrelation of jurisprudence with other social sciences.

Jurisprudence and Sociology

• The objective of sociology is to study human actions in a social environment. Its studies humans as members of social groups. Law is an important element of society. Therefore, sociologists must understand law to understand society. However, a sociologist would not look at law in the same way as a lawyer. While a lawyer is concerned with the law itself, a sociologist is concerned with the impact of the law upon society. There is a separate branch of jurisprudence which comprises of sociological theories of law. 
• Not only sociologists but lawyers too have to understand the society to understand the law. For instance, crime is essentially an act of social deviance and to understand the law of crimes, a basic understanding of the society is required. Earlier, the judges used to decide punishments based on popular opinion. However, now the process has become more technical and professional in nature with the opinions and studies of criminologists being taken into consideration.
• According to Paton, it is essential to understand the relationship between law and social interests since such a study would lead to a better understanding of the evolution of law. The human factor in law cannot be entirely neglected. The ideas of jurists like Keeton asserting the necessity of studying law as devoid of any social interests is, indeed, compelling but appears to be quite impractical.

Jurisprudence and Psychology

• Psychology is the science of human mind and behavior. Its objective is to understand the reasons behind the way an individual responds to a stimulus. All the social sciences, including jurisprudence, study human actions. Psychology occupies a central position among the social sciences for it is imperative to understand the human mind before studying human actions. 
• Law plays a regulatory role in a man's life. One cannot regulate without understanding the nature of that which is to be regulated. Therefore, it is important that a lawmaker understands basic psychological concepts. Such an understanding would enable the lawmaker in ensuring that the law is not only made but also effectively followed by the people.
• It may be argued that jurisprudence is in no way concerned with the workings of a human mind. However, psychological researchers have greatly contributed to penology and criminology. The analytical positivists stress upon the importance of sanctions that are imposed by law. Some jurists believe that the sanctions are mostly psychological ones.

Jurisprudence and Ethics

• Ethics scientifically studies human conduct. It deals with the concept of ideal human conduct. Such an ideal state is determined by popular opinions of what is good and what is bad. It depends upon the moral values of the society. Crimes are acts against the society at large which are penalized by law. Generally, law does not concern itself with the science of ethics. 
• Sometimes ethics may help in the determination of whether an act should be criminalized or not. However, it must be noted that something that is unethical may not be a crime and vice versa. Ethics deals with the values and beliefs about ideal human conduct. The law deals with the regulation of human conduct. Thus, a jurist must have a basic understanding of the science of ethics to examine a law.
• Austin divorced ethics from jurisprudence. The same has been criticized by many, for, it is believed that complete separation of ethics from jurisprudence would completely cut out the science of law from all forms of social contact and reduce it to a "system of rather arid formalism".

Jurisprudence and Economics

• Economics refers to the science of wealth. Both, jurisprudence, and economics aim for the betterment of the lives of the people. Economics aims for such betterment through the satisfaction of the needs and wants of the people, while jurisprudence, the science of law, aims for the betterment of the lives of the people through the enactment of welfare legislations. 
• Wealth forms an important source of happiness, peace, and fulfilment in an individual's life. Therefore, to enact good welfare legislations, a legislator must be mindful of the fundamental concepts of the science of wealth, that is, economics. Moreover, economic factors also lead to crime. Therefore, an understanding of economics is essential to address and prevent crime in society. Law also protects people from economic exploitation.
• The intimate relation between law and economics was first emphasized by Karl Marx. After his theory, several jurists began to evaluate the relation between the science of wealth and the science of law.

Jurisprudence and History

• History studies the events and happenings of the past. One of the important areas of jurisprudence is to understand the origin and evolution of law. Thus, the relation between jurisprudence and history is extremely close. 
• In fact, there is an entire separate historical school of jurisprudence.

Jurisprudence and Political Science

• According to Friedmann, jurisprudence is linked to philosophy at one end and to political theory on the other. The concept of law, as we know it today, originated with the concept of state. Political Science is the science of the state. The analytical school of jurisprudence considers law as the command of the sovereign. This 'sovereign' is what is known as the state. The various political theories regarding the origin of the state have been used by jurists to formulate theories regarding the origin, nature and functions of law.

The various social sciences are deeply inter-related. This makes it impossible to study a single social science in complete isolation. The primary objective of all social sciences is to study human actions and behavior in different forms. Thus, it is important for a legal professional to be mindful of the intimate relations that jurisprudence shares with other social sciences.

Purpose and Value of Jurisprudence

• The purpose of jurisprudence is to study the law and legal concepts and analyze the same to facilitate better understanding of legal complexities. Therefore, the theories of jurisprudence are quite useful in solving complex legal problems in the practical world. The various studies and analysis of the legal concepts help a legal professional in sharpening his legal acumen. 
• The subject has immense academic value. One of the most important features of jurisprudence is its relationship with other social sciences such as sociology, political science, ethics, etc. Therefore, research in the field of jurisprudence yields great number of social benefits. Moreover, jurisprudential concepts make way for sociological perspectives in law, thereby preventing it from being reduced to rigid formalism. Jurisprudence is known as the "grammar of law". 
• It helps in the effective expression and application of legal concepts to real-life legal problems. It greatly helps in the interpretation of law and determination of legislative intent. It stresses upon the importance of considering present social needs over the ideas of the past while dealing with legal problems.
• Jurisprudence is also known as the "eye of law". The human eye senses the light reflected from objects to make them visible. Similarly, jurisprudence throws light on several fundamental legal concepts to facilitate their effective application in deliberation of legal problems.

Indian Perspective

• The Hindu legal system is one of the most ancient legal systems of the world. It is based on the concept and philosophy of "Dharma". 
• The Hindu concept of dharma might appear to be like the natural school of jurisprudence. 
• Dharma refers to the order set by nature and the adherence of human beings to such natural order. 
• Dharma includes the concept of nyaya or justice. The term natural order implies to the cosmic order- the law which sustains the entire universe.