---
title: "Jurisprudence"
chunk: 1/8
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurisprudence"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:58:04.446884+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values; and 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, as well as problems of law as a social institution that relate 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 attempts to describe what law is. The two historically dominant theories in analytic jurisprudence are legal positivism and natural law theory. According to Legal Positivists, what law is and what law ought to be have no necessary connection to one another, so it is theoretically possible to engage in analytic jurisprudence without simultaneously engaging in normative jurisprudence. According to Natural Law Theorists, there is a necessary connection between what law is and what it ought to be, so it is impossible to engage in analytic jurisprudence without simultaneously engaging in normative jurisprudence.
Normative jurisprudence attempts to prescribe what law ought to be. It is concerned with the goal or purpose of law and what moral or political theories provide a foundation for the law. It attempts to determine the proper function of law, which acts should be subject to legal sanctions, and which punishments should be permitted.
Sociological jurisprudence studies the nature and functions of law in the light of social scientific knowledge. It emphasises variation in legal phenomena across different cultures and societies. It relies especially on empirically oriented social theory but draws theoretical resources from diverse disciplines.
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.

== Overview ==

Whereas lawyers are interested in what the law is on a specific issue in a specific jurisdiction, analytical philosophers of law are interested in identifying the features of law shared across cultures, times, and places. Taken together, these foundational features of law offer the kind of universal definition philosophers are after. The general approach allows philosophers to ask questions about, for example, what separates law from morality, politics, or practical reason. While the field has traditionally focused on giving an account of law's nature, some scholars have begun to examine the nature of domains within law, e.g. tort law, contract law, or criminal law. These scholars focus on what makes certain domains of law distinctive and how they differ from one another. A particularly fecund area of research has been the distinction between tort law and criminal law, which more generally bears on the difference between civil and criminal law.
In addition to analytic jurisprudence, legal philosophy is also concerned with normative theories of law. "Normative jurisprudence involves normative, evaluative, and otherwise prescriptive questions about the law."

== Etymology and terminology ==
The English word is derived from the Latin, iurisprudentia. Iuris is the genitive form of ius meaning law, and prudentia meaning prudence (also: discretion, foresight, forethought, circumspection). It refers to the exercise of good judgment, common sense, and caution, especially in the conduct of practical matters. The word first appeared in written English in 1628, at a time when the word prudence meant knowledge of, or skill in, a matter. It may have entered English via the French jurisprudence, which appeared earlier.

== History ==