John Austin (legal philosopher)
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John Austin (1790 - 1859) was a noted British jurist. He was a profound writer who wrote extensively and thus there was much his mind could feast on.
Austin served in the army in Sicily and Malta, but sold his commission to study law. He was called to the Bar in 1818. He discontinued his practice shortly after, devoted himself to the study of law as a science, and became Professor of Jurisprudence in the University of London (now University College London) 1826-32. Thereafter he served on various Royal Commissions.
His works exercised a profound influence on the views of jurisprudence held in England. These include The Province of Jurisprudence Determined (1832), and Lectures on Jurisprudence.
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[edit] Theories on legal positivism
John Austin is best known for his work developing the theory of legal positivism. He attempted to clearly separate moral rules from "positive law."
Austin was greatly influenced in his utilitarian approach to law by Jeremy Bentham. Austin defined positive law as commands from the government that create a duty in the governed and are backed by a threat of sanction from the government should the command not be followed. In this way he defined law primarily in terms of the power to control others. This definition of law was criticised by the 20th century legal philosopher H. L. A. Hart, who said that it was analogous to a gunman backing up his demands with a threat of violence.
Austin's style of writing not only resulted in clear theories but makes those theories readily accessible to his readers. However, it has been said that his wife Sarah was the one who cleaned up his prose and made it accessible.
[edit] Legacy
Austin greatly influenced later 20th Century thinkers, most notably "Pure Theory of Law" founder Hans Kelsen and H.L.A. Hart who even more vigorously argued for the divorce of law and morals, attempting to defend against the accusations that legal positivism was responsible for the horror occurring in Nazi Germany.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
- Wilfred E. Rumble, The Thought of John Austin : Jurisprudence, Colonial Reform, and the British Constitution London ; Dover, N.H. : Athlone Press, 1985
[edit] External links
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