Jurisprudence.
The term “jurisprudence” technically means skill in the science of the law. That definition rests on the premise that law is a science, a premise deeply rooted in Anglo-American legal education since at least the eighteenth century, but one that came under severe assault in the twentieth century. The conception of law as a science presupposes its methodological and even substantive universality as a set of fundamental principles that can be analyzed and discerned in an unchanging fashion, akin to the traditional view of “the scientific method.” Many conventional treatments of jurisprudence have been organized around these premises. However, jurisprudence can also be thought of as the cumulative history of ideas about the nature and cultural significance of law and legal institutions in a given nation. This essay takes the latter approach, emphasizing ideas about the law in successive periods of American history.... ...
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