Understanding Jurisprudence

Considering general philosophical and theoretical questions about the nature, purpose and operation of law as a whole, this book introduces students to contemporary debates in jurisprudence and encourages them to think in a theoretical and critical way about the nature of law, legal reasoning and adjudication. Discussing wider issues of morality, politics and society with reference to legal cases and examples, it provides as broad a perspective on the law as possible. Key features of this textbook include:

• introductions to each chapter
• analysis of how jurisprudential issues can arise in everyday life
• a wide range of cases to ground the theoretical discussion
• in-depth discussion of the relationship of law to force, morality and politics, as well as of rights, justice and feminist jurisprudence.

The text provides a concise treatment of all the major topics typically covered in an undergraduate course on jurisprudence and succinctly explains the arguments for and against the different approaches to the issues that are raised.

Introduction. Law and Force. Law and Morality. Law and Politics: Mainstream Theories. Law and Politics: Challenging the Mainstream. Rights. Public and Private. Justice. Feminist Jurisprudence