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Schools of Legal Thought

15 January, 2016 - 09:28

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Distinguish different philosophies of law—schools of legal thought—and explain their relevance.
  2. Explain why natural law relates to the rights that the founders of the US political-legal system found important.
  3. Describe legal positivism and explain how it differs from natural law.
  4. Differentiate critical legal studies and ecofeminist legal perspectives from both natural law and legal positivist perspectives.

There are different schools (or philosophies) concerning what law is all about. Philosophy of law is also called jurisprudence, and the two main schools are legal positivismand natural law. Although there are others (see Other Schools of Legal Thought ), these two are the most influential in how people think about the law.