History of Western Legal Thought

Author: He Qinhua
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-01-01
Features: In 1991, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press published the first volume of the author's series of research on the history of law, titled "A Study of the History of Law in Contemporary Japan - A & Works." This book is divided into five chapters: Basic Law, Public Law, Private Law, Social Law, and International Law. On the basis of an overview of the development, changes, and characteristics of various legal disciplines in Japan after World War II for 45 years, it focuses on introducing, analyzing, and reviewing the works (originals) of 35 contemporary Japanese legal scholars. In the preface of the book, the author points out: Although contemporary Japanese law inherits the tradition of Eastern law (ancient Chinese law), it is mainly formed and developed on the basis of absorbing the achievements of Western law and combining the current social reality of Japan. It has certain characteristics of Western law and has become an indispensable part of the development of Western law. Therefore, starting with Japanese law to further explore the historical heritage of Western law is reasonable both in historical connection and in logical development. Based on this understanding, the author has determined the content of the second volume of the history of law research as "History of Western Law," aiming to focus on describing and analyzing the overall development of Western legal history. As everyone knows, the history of Western law represents the mainstream of the world's legal development history and has brought humanity a rich legacy of knowledge. The basic principles, institutions, content, and terminology of modern law can be said to be products of every stage of Western legal development without exception. Therefore, conducting a comprehensive and systematic study of the history of Western law undoubtedly has great theoretical and practical value. Law is a product of human civilization that has reached a certain stage of development, and its formation and development is an unceasing process of evolution and increasing science. In the long history of legal development, the wisdom and insight of countless legal scholars have been integrated. The various schools of thought and legal scholars in history have proposed various theories, all containing scientific and truth content, and are all part of human civilization. It is our historical responsibility to organize, summarize, make appropriate evaluations, and promote the reasonable components of these theories. In our country, although a number of textbooks and monographs on the history of foreign legal systems and the history of Western legal thought have been published since the 1980s, and national foreign legal systems research associations and Western legal thought history divisions have been established respectively, the study of the history of Western law has not yet been systematically carried out. In addition to some works on modern and contemporary Western legal philosophy and the history of legal philosophy, there is still a blank space in the overall study of the history of Western law. It is precisely in response to the current situation in our country that the author has begun teaching and researching the history of Western law and has published the results of its publicity, in order to attract the attention of academic peers and to jointly cultivate this virgin land. Although the author has put in a lot of effort, due to the wide field this book covers and the heavy task of organizing materials, it is still inevitable that there will be many errors. We sincerely invite academic peers and readers to criticize and correct them. He Qinhua, Shanghai · East China University of Political Science and Law, March 6, 1996