The Law To Know

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Modern analytical and empirical

Sociological Jurisprudence

Study law in society: what it does, whom it serves, and how living practice differs from the books.

Late 19th to mid 20th century · Germany, Austria, France and the United States. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Read this first. This is a first map of a large subject. Each school is a family of views, and its thinkers often disagree with one another, so every summary simplifies. We describe each school in terms its own followers would accept and give the strongest criticism beside it. Read the original works before you cite anyone, and check your own course's reading list. This is general information, not legal advice.

What is law?

Law is a social institution and a tool for balancing social interests. Beside the state's law there is 'living law', the rules that actually order families, firms and communities (Ehrlich).

Law and morality

Law should be judged by how well it balances competing social interests, and by how well it works in practice (Pound).

Where does its authority come from?

Social need and social effect.

How should judges decide?

Judges should look at the effects of rules on social interests, not only at their text.

The question it asks

How does law actually work in social life?

Main criticism

It is vague about how to rank competing social interests, and it risks letting policy overrule the law as written.

Legacy today

Legal sociology, access-to-justice research, and the study of legal pluralism.

Key thinkers

Rudolf von Jhering, Eugen Ehrlich, Roscoe Pound, Léon Duguit, Max Weber, Émile Durkheim.

Key works

  • Ehrlich, Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law (1913)
  • Pound, Interpretations of Legal History (1923)
  • Weber, Economy and Society

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Read further

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: philosophy of law (an overview). For the exact arguments, go to the original works above.

TheLawToKnow Tools’s guide to schools of legal thought is an educational overview. It is not legal advice. Report a mistake.