Jurisprudence

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Jurisprudence, also known as the philosophy or theory of law, is a branch of law and philosophy that examines the positive and normative nature of law. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values; as well as the relationship between law and other fields of study, including economics, ethics, history, sociology, and political philosophy.

Modern jurisprudence began in the 18th century and was based on the first principles of natural law, civil law, and the law of nations. Contemporary philosophy of law addresses problems internal to law and legal systems and problems of law as a social institution that relates to the larger political and social context in which it exists. Jurisprudence can be divided into categories both by the type of question scholars seek to answer and by the theories of jurisprudence, or schools of thought, regarding how those questions are best answered:

• Natural law holds that there are rational objective limits to the power of rulers, the foundations of law are accessible through reason, and it is from these laws of nature that human laws gain force.
• Analytic jurisprudence rejects natural law's fusing of what law is and what it ought to be, espousing the use of a neutral point of view and descriptive language when referring to aspects of legal systems. It encompasses theories such as legal positivism and legal realism.
• Normative jurisprudence is concerned with evaluative theories of law, dealing with what the goal or purpose of law is and what moral or political theories provide a foundation for the law. It attempts to determine what the proper function of law should be, what sorts of acts should be subject to legal sanctions, and what sorts of punishment should be permitted.
• Experimental jurisprudence seeks to investigate the content of legal concepts using the methods of social science, unlike the philosophical methods of traditional jurisprudence.

The terms "philosophy of law" and "jurisprudence" are often used interchangeably, though jurisprudence sometimes encompasses forms of reasoning that fit into economics or sociology.