Sociological jurisprudence

This emerged from 7 European thoughts

According to toe sociologists, law ultimately originates from society. When we talk
about sociological jurisprudence we don’t have one idea, but one intererllated
ideas. For example, ev
- Rules skeptism. Rules themselves emerge from society and are found
expressed in courts, etc.
- Sociological jurisprudence focuses on law in action that law in writing. It
also stresses relativism – the idea of Charles Darwin
- Sociological jurisprudence also rejected the idea of natural law that is an
ultimate discoverable theory of values to which all human rules must
conform, and from which they derive their ultimate ……….rather sociological
jurists instead, employ the methods of social science research – this tends
to focus on data collection to support whatever theory you want to lay
down.
When you random sample, it minimizes the tendency of prejudice – it is
purely by lottery. Sometimes too they use participant participation.
Participant research entails living with the people or living the experience.
Sometimes when you are there like that people do not know you are observing
and they behave in their natural way but when you go there with a pen, they
could fake. There is a difference between library research and field work.

Sociological jurisprudence in continental Europe. The same evolutionary idea by

marx was accepted by Darwin. You are not an intellectual because you have been
to the university.
A French man call……………was ther first man to apply sociological methods to law.
He inverted the term sociology. He employed four major methods of social
investigation
1. Experiment
2. Observation
3. Comparison
 4. Historical method.
Although his old approach begun to degenerate, he started makin sure
that…………………….it degenerated from …….to …………….
He was of the view that human society developed in 3 major stages
1. Theological stage where phenomena is explained in terms of superior
beings.
2. Metaphysical stage where nature and abstract entities are held responsible
for occurrences in society and finding the ………..for scientific stage where
man observes and experiments phenomenas to many thinkers of the
sociological persuasion laissez faire and evolution hold the key to
understanding human progress. The development of the theory of
evolution or Darwinism enables sociological juriststo link human
development to economic and social progress. Prior to the emergence of
laissez faire doctrines, ideas of ……….mercantilism encouraged the view that
the state was obliged to state the welfare of the citizenry by regulation of
foreign and domestic trade. The ideas of Adam Smith encouraged free trade
and dissuaded governments from interference in economic activities. In a
sense this was consonant with the idea that natural laws controls the
universe for the operation of a Sniffian fray hand to induce an optimum
production.
Max Werber (1864-1920)
One of the most important sociological jurists – Werber – was the first to
formulate a coherent sociology of law and to realize that the sociology of law is
central to sociological theory. Like most Germans of his time, he started rom the
historical school but turned ….quote. the main object of Verber was to uncover
the development and characteristics of western society. In its most developed
form namely capitalism in the process, he did extensive historical and …..practice
service into major world civilization particularly ofthe oriental and roman sort. He
also peered into the origins of rationalism and capitalist development. And
concluded that the presence of a rational legal order is a critical feature of
capitalist society.
Lawyers and judges follow decided cases, this exposes the rationalism that is
being talked about over here. According to him society and law itself goes
through some stages. He poses the idea that law passes through stages namely:
 From Charismatic legal regulation through law which he calls law
prophets, to the systematic elaboration of law and the professionalized
administration of justice by persons with formal legal training in a logical
manner.

Everything that is done in the western law courts is rational. “We want to find a
logical and rational way of determining guilt” thus the judge sitting there is
deciding cases in a systematic and a rational way – decided cases and law
He did not attribute any evolutionary sequence to his ideas. Rather he postulated
the different types of rationality and irrationality that characterized different legal
systems. And he defines irrationality or legal irrationality as failure to be guided by
legal rules. He in turn, divides this into formal irrationality for instance in
situations where decisions are guided by means beyond ordinary reasoning for
instance, trial by ordeal or trial by oracle – these are not rational yaws………he also
identified substantive…..irrationality where the decision maker reacts solely to the
individual case before him, he takes the decision based on the case before him
and not because of a chain of cases. This is exemplified by the Moslem Qapi, in
the market place – resolving disputes on the hoof – the case is judge as it is seen
by rationality but this rationality does not form within the framework of a broad
rationality.
A legal system shows substantive rationality when it based on principles derived
from an ideological system backed by procedural restraints as well as a certain
…..of uniformity that results from basic adherence – adherence to basic judicial
precedents. It only attains formal logical rationality when it rules are cast through
the use of abstract concepts and templates proceeding from legal thought in a
complete system. He says that such rationalism is the product of rationalism of
western culture. There are many aspects of the sociological school. What I have
done is to unfold first principles of the sociological school.
- If there are any questions
5. Emergence of Charles Darwin – the weak will have to die and the strong
survive.
6.