Jeremy Bentham the most forgotten founder father of English School of Jurisprudence.
John Austin has been paid credit as the founder father of the English
Analytical School of Jurisprudence until in the year 1945 the
work of Jeremy Bentham was got published by
Prof Everett of University College of London.
Jeremy Bentham is the real founder father of the English School of Jurisprudence but the real and full credit has never been paid to this Jurist because of his indolence in not getting his works published in spite of his whole life has been devoted to legal writing.
The actual credit of bringing this man in front of light of Jurisprudence must really go to
Prof. Everett who discovered one of the most important manuscripts of Jeremy Bentham’s thoughts on jurisprudence at University College of London. It was this work was brought to the public.
This works was fully deciphered and here the stress on the word, “decipher” is given because it was the real work of
Prof. Everett that authenticated the manuscript. This was found out to be a Treatise,” The Limits of Jurisprudence Defined ” and the year of work was found out to be 1782.
The above work reveals how mush was really did
John Austin owe to Jeremy Bentham and he is due to this unknown man of jurisprudence. Jeremy Bentham works clearly reveal that he was really an analyst who did real work in the mechanics of
law. The many facets of
Jeremy Bentham could be very well understood by going through “ Jeremy Bentham and the Law ” edited initially by
G.W.Keeton and G.Schwarzenberger.
Bentham was really a realist in temper and in his approach to Jurisprudence two important aspects namely 1 The Analytical
tool of law and 2. The
Utility tool of law.
John Austin took from
Jeremy Bentham the analytical tool but rejected the utility tool as a one that beyond the realm of Jurisprudence proper.
Thus his definition of law can found to be very wide enough to spread over or if English language permits me let me use the word to ‘ blanket ’ administrative and subordinate legislation. Hence, only his approach of analysis made one jurist to state that his analysis of rights and duties has the embryo that has been already seeded by him that once was thought to be the birth child of twentieth century thinking as stated by
W.G.Friedmann, 1948.
Thus, the utility tool of law that compelled him to put it in the “utility crucible ” every law to find out whether it comes out the test to give the greatest happiness of the greatest number that was also a seed that was already germane to the
Roscoe Pound’s Sociological School of Jurisprudence. Thus, the analytical and the utility tool with which he approached law made him to examine the structure, the conceptions, and the functioning of the legal system whether it gives greatest happiness of the greatest number. Hence, in every legal right if it embodies a privilege he analysed the utility tool for analysis of the privilege. Hence only though he may be called as an individualist but yet he carried on with him the collectivism that could be seen reflected in
Prof. Everett.
Thus it made a fertile ground for him to analyse the every legal terms like rights, power, duties, prohibition, obligations property liberty etc., to find out it has any practical utility and if not so to discard the same. Hence, only
G.W.Paton a jurist called him as
Gospel who acted with missionary zeal to be the father or a precursor to the codification of law and specifically to Civil Code.
Thus the many facets of law and specifically to two sides namely the analytical and utility sides created the Pure Science of law or the Teleological school and the Analytical school. Hence, in short he can be called as the original founder father of English Jurisprudence.
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