The Province of Jurisprudence Determined by John Austin

The Province of Jurisprudence Determined by John Austin

A work that has had a profound influence on the study of English and American law, The Province of Jurisprudence Determined is a model of rigorous and clear analysis. With its publication Austin brought order to the disparate elements of a legal profession that up until his time was largely unsystematic. Although he was greatly respected by a small circle of supporters, including Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, his work received little attention beyond his friends during his lifetime. It was only after Austin's death that his writings began to attract general notice. Then his analysis became the focal point for strong disagreements over the true nature of law, the definition of law as a form of command with implied sanctions, and the problem of differentiating legal authority, political power, and morality. The later fame of his work appears to have resulted from the controversies it generated. Perhaps Austin's most significant contribution was to make a clear distinction between positive law (i.e., laws decreed by the sovereign or government) and moral principles (which he terms the law of God). In so doing he defined the field of inquiry for later students. Also of interest is the influence of utilitarian philosophy on his analysis: for example, he viewed the principle of social utility as a benchmark for discerning God's commands and hence for judging the overall moral quality of rules of conduct. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Austin's analysis, it is clear that his work is now established as indispensable for all discussions of jurisprudence.

JOHN AUSTIN was born in Creeting Mill, Suffolk, England, on March 3, 1790. Austin began studying law after serving in the army for five years, and he practiced at the chancery bar from 1818 until 1825. In 1820, he married Sarah Taylor (1793-1867), a German and French historian who translated and edited works such as Leopold von Ranke's History of the Popes (1840) and History of the Reformation in Germany (1845), as well as François Guizot's English Revolution (1850). Austin and his wife were both staunch utilitarians, close friends of social theorists Jeremy Bentham, James Mill, and his son John Stuart Mill, and passionate advocates for legal reform. Austin was the first professor of jurisprudence at University College, London, when it was formed in 1826.

He studied Roman law and the work of German experts on current civil law for the next two years in Germany. Many famous figures attended Austin's initial lectures in 1828, but he struggled to attract pupils and eventually quit his chair in 1832. He gave up teaching law in 1834 after delivering a shorter but equally unsuccessful version of his lectures. In 1833, he was assigned to the Criminal Law Commission, but after receiving little support for his views, he resigned in dissatisfaction after signing the commission's first two reports.

In 1836, he was appointed as a commissioner for Malta's affairs. The Austins thereafter lived in France, primarily in Paris, until 1848, when they returned to England and settled in Surrey, where John Austin died in December 1859. The Province of Jurisprudence Decided, published in 1832, is Austin's best-known publication, a rendition of portion of his lectures. It revolutionized English thinking on the subject by defining the area of ethics and law, and it was appreciated by American jurists such as J.C.

Oliver Wendell Holmes and Gray

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781573928458
ISBN 10	1573928453
Title	The Province of Jurisprudence Determined
Author	John Austin
Series	Great Minds Series
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Prometheus Books
Year published	2000-11-01
Number of pages	410
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.