INTRODUCTION
The term ‘Jurisprudence’ is derived from ‘jurisprudentia’. The word ‘jure’ or ‘juris’ means the ‘law’ and the word prudentia means ‘skill’ or ‘knowledge’ and hence the word ‘Jurisprudence’ means ‘Knowledge of law’ or ‘Skill of Law’. However different writers have different meanings to this term ‘jurisprudence’.
One of the famous jurisprudents, Austin, defines ‘jurisprudence’ as “the philosophy of positive law”. According to Salmond, jurisprudence’s definition is possible in two senses (a) in the ‘Generic Sense’ jurisprudence is definable as ‘Science of Civil Law’ and (b) in the ‘Specific Sense’ jurisprudence is definable as ‘the science of the first principle of civil law’.
NATURE OF JURISPRUDENCE
Jurisprudence explores legal concepts. Also, there is availability of the essential principles of law in jurisprudence. Jurisprudence not only deals with the rules which we already know in the past but it also studies and sets the foundation of new rules. Jurisprudence is a result of the thinking of Jurists and philosophers. They have the freedom to access, analyze and speculate about the legal system.
Jurisprudence connects laws with other disciplines such as psychology, politics, economics, etc. The scope of jurisprudence is not constant. It’s derivation is not on the basis of any act of parliament or state assembly. Various concepts such as the origin of law, need of law, utility of the law are studied by various Jurists. This study of concepts of law is Jurisprudence.
SCOPE OF JURISPRUDENCE
There had been a great controversy as to the question relating to the scope or subject matter or boundaries of jurisprudence. The depiction of controversy is in a historical perspective. For a long time law equalizes to morality. According to Hobbes, the subject matter of jurisprudence deals with the national law, political government, and sovereignty. Blackstone confused the law with ‘justice’ or what the law ought to be. Bentham made the actual law as a subject matter of his study. Austin has determined the ‘province of jurisprudence’. He states that the science of jurisprudence is concerned with the positive law; which is strictly so-called.
On the continent, law, morality, and justice remained undifferentiated. Salmond, taking the word ‘jurisprudence’ in its ‘specific’ sense, has divided the subject into three branches i.e., analytical, historical, and ethical. For a comprehensive treatment of the subject all the three branches must be studied. In jurisprudence we study law as a system of rules and principles.
CONCLUSION
In jurisprudence we study the legal thoughts of different schools. The classification of jurisprudence into ‘schools’ provides an index of the direction of the dominant theme or thesis be it religious, secular, scientific, or sociological which found support and impetus from thinkers and philosophers in each age. All schools of jurisprudence are concerned with the nature of law and its purpose, yet their methods, approaches, and outlook varies e.g. philosophical, natural, analytical, historical, sociological, etc. However, all these approaches remain faithful to the general principles of law.
Jurisprudence is not static. It changes from time to time and from place to place. In a wider and generic sense, jurisprudence studies the entire body of legal principles, abstract concepts, and legal doctrines; but in the stricter and more specific sense, it is the study of the substratum of any particular legal system. The study of jurisprudence has acquired urgency as it imparts to students skill, training, and insight for assessing legal rules in the context of set social milieu and values that are intended to be realized through such rules.
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