What is the subject of Philosophy of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

What is the subject of Philosophy of Law - Essay Example General jurisprudence, as part of law, thus maintains a strong hold over this very normative aspect of law as it tries to answer the questions about how law dominates over every aspect of society at large. Philosophy of law thus boils down to the combination of concepts and theories that assist in the understanding of the very nature of law, the command that it holds within society as well as the sources of its authority. (Julius) The philosophies of Thomas Hobbes, Jeremy Bentham, and of course John Austin, have all added up to the nature and comprehension of law as well as the legal validity between legal positivism and the philosophy behind it. What exactly is law is the question that most legal philosophers have aimed to define during the course of their lifetime, and the various schools of thought that have contributed towards the same are legal positivism, natural law, legal realism and legal interpretivism. In order to address these questions, they have been placed under the branch of jurisprudence, since the 18th century. The legal philosopher Isodore states that â€Å"we call these legal matters just which are adapted to produce and preserve happiness and its parts for the body politic, for the state are a perfect community†. (Aquinas) The author states that law is normative in nature for the good of citizens; it purports the benefit of the various people living under the law, together, for their common good. At the same time hower, it also aims to provide individual good for as many as possible. This merges with the Utilitarian theory of Jeremy Bentham where he states that the law should aim for the greatest good of the greatest number. A consideration thus to understand the phiosophy of law should be made towards understanding the distinction between law and morality on the basis of the above mentioned. When the law tends to bend towards a form of socil control, it seeks answers to the question relating to the community; for example, in what