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Legal Theories and Schools
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Natural Law
Focuses on moral theory as the basis for law; key proponents include Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle.
Legal Positivism
Believes law is a set of rules and regulations that are created and enforced by a sovereign authority; key proponents include John Austin and H.L.A. Hart.
Legal Realism
Asserts that laws are created based on the judges' personal perspectives and social influences; key proponents include Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and Karl Llewellyn.
Critical Legal Studies
Claims that law is an expression of the policy goals and biases of those in power; no central figures as it's a movement rather than a singular theory.
Feminist Jurisprudence
Examines how laws have historically disadvantaged women and aims to rectify gender bias; key thinkers include Catherine MacKinnon and Carol Gilligan.
Law and Economics
Views laws in the context of economic efficiency; key proponents include Richard Posner and Ronald Coase.
Critical Race Theory
Acknowledges the role of race in the construction of legal issues and argues that law plays a role in upholding racial power structures; key figures include Derrick Bell and Kimberlé Crenshaw.
Marxist Legal Theory
Views law as a tool used by the ruling class to maintain their economic dominance; key proponents include Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Legal Formalism
Holds that judges apply legal reasoning to facts in a logical way, resulting in a determined outcome; key figures include Christopher Columbus Langdell.
Postmodern Jurisprudence
Challenges the notion that laws are stable and objective and instead treats them as contextually based social constructs; lacks specific central figures due to its decentralized nature.
Legal Pluralism
Recognizes the coexistence of multiple legal systems within one geographic area; key scholars include Sally Falk Moore and Boaventura de Sousa Santos.
Utilitarianism in Law
Asserts that the best laws maximize the overall happiness and well-being of society; key proponents include Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
Deontological Legal Theory
Beliefs that laws should be based on duty, rules, and obligations rather than on the outcome or consequences; key proponents include Immanuel Kant.
Legal Interpretivism
Argues that the law is not a set of rules but rather a common, public standard of correct judicial decision-making; associated with Ronald Dworkin.
Sociological Jurisprudence
Considers the actual social effects of the law and seeks to base legal principles on the real-world functioning of the law; key proponents include Roscoe Pound.
Psychoanalytic Jurisprudence
Applies theories of psychology and psychoanalysis to legal issues, examining the unconscious pressures behind the actions of legal actors; influential thinkers include Sigmund Freud and Ernest Jones.
Libertarian Legal Theory
Emphasizes individual freedom and rights, minimal state intervention, and the protection of private property; key theorists include Robert Nozick and Murray Rothbard.
Ecological Jurisprudence
Focuses on the legal rights and value of the environment and non-human entities; key proponents include Christopher D. Stone and Thomas Berry.
Queer Legal Theory
Critiques traditional legal constructs that reinforce binary gender and heterosexual norms; key thinkers include Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and Judith Butler.
Transnational Legal Theory
Examines the application and influence of law across national borders, recognizing the interconnectedness of modern legal systems; thinkers in this area are varied and international.
Constitutionalism
The principle that government should be limited in its powers and that its authority depends on observing these limitations; key figures include James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.
Contractarianism in Law
Belief that individuals consent either explicitly or tacitly to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority in exchange for protection of their remaining rights; key philosophers include Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
Restorative Justice
A system of criminal justice that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large; key proponents include Nils Christie and Howard Zehr.
Therapeutic Jurisprudence
Considers the therapeutic or anti-therapeutic consequences of the law and legal procedures on individuals; key figures include David B. Wexler and Bruce J. Winick.
Cosmopolitan Legal Theory
Proposes a universal legal framework that transcends state borders and is grounded in the respect for human dignity and individual rights; associated with thinkers like Jürgen Habermas and Martha Nussbaum.
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