Sociological Jurisprudence and Sociology of Law
Sociological Jurisprudence and Sociology of Law
Roscoe Pound (l87O—1964) was the first jurist to make the social dimensions of law, a central concern of Anglo-American jurisprudence. He was by no means the originator of the sociological tradition in law, which in fact commenced in Germany and France. Pound’s achievement was to combine thoroughgoing technical study of the law in all its aspects with the insights and methods developed by sociologists of law. He called this branch of study sociological jurisprudence, to distinguish it from sociology of law. However, sociological Jurisprudence, as the name suggests draws inspiration, ideas and methods from sociology of law.
Sociology
The study of society is as old as philosophy. Political theory, moral philosophy and even religion are concerned with society in one way or another. Sociology as a distinct discipline has a more recent origin, in the work of the French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798—1857). Sociology seeks to understand the workings of society in a scientific way. There are two main sociological schools: positivist sociology and interpretive (antipositivist) sociology.
Positivist sociology
Positivist sociology is based on empiricism and scientific method. Empiricism is the belief that the only true knowledge is knowledge gathered from observed facts. It is the philosophical foundation of science. Physical science consists of theories about the behaviour of non-living things, ranging from celestial bodies to sub-atomic particles.
Biological science studies living organisms, from the largest animal and plants to the smallest micro-organisms. Social science tries to do something similar with societies. Positivist sociology is a branch of social science that applies the objective methods of empirical science to the study of society. Its method typically involves the collection and analysis of empirical data and the construction and testing of theories. If crime rates are consistently higher in poorer
Roscoe Pound (l87O—1964) was the first jurist to make the social dimensions of law, a central concern of Anglo-American jurisprudence. He was by no means the originator of the sociological tradition in law, which in fact commenced in Germany and France. Pound’s achievement was to combine thoroughgoing technical study of the law in all its aspects with the insights and methods developed by sociologists of law. He called this branch of study sociological jurisprudence, to distinguish it from sociology of law. However, sociological Jurisprudence, as the name suggests draws inspiration, ideas and methods from sociology of law.
Sociology
The study of society is as old as philosophy. Political theory, moral philosophy and even religion are concerned with society in one way or another. Sociology as a distinct discipline has a more recent origin, in the work of the French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798—1857). Sociology seeks to understand the workings of society in a scientific way. There are two main sociological schools: positivist sociology and interpretive (antipositivist) sociology.
Positivist sociology
Positivist sociology is based on empiricism and scientific method. Empiricism is the belief that the only true knowledge is knowledge gathered from observed facts. It is the philosophical foundation of science. Physical science consists of theories about the behaviour of non-living things, ranging from celestial bodies to sub-atomic particles.
Biological science studies living organisms, from the largest animal and plants to the smallest micro-organisms. Social science tries to do something similar with societies. Positivist sociology is a branch of social science that applies the objective methods of empirical science to the study of society. Its method typically involves the collection and analysis of empirical data and the construction and testing of theories. If crime rates are consistently higher in poorer