History of Western Legal Thought

Author: Yan Cunsheng, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: This book is one of the national-level planning teaching materials for "The 10th Five-Year Plan" in ordinary higher education institutions, edited by Professor Yan Cunsheng. As an undergraduate textbook for law, it elaborates on important legal thoughts in the history of Western legal thought across three historical stages—ancient, modern, and modern—focusing on the evolution of legal concepts rather than a simple listing of legal scholars and works. It emphasizes introduction and provides appropriate critiques, with a focus on legal thoughts within the scope of legal philosophy, neither written as a history of political thought or ethical thought, nor including content from specific legal disciplines. The book features a clear structure, covering legal thought from ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and medieval Europe to classical natural law, philosophical jurisprudence, historical jurisprudence, utilitarian jurisprudence, and early analytical jurisprudence, and then to modern analytical jurisprudence, the social sciences school, and modern natural law. It presents a solid, comprehensive, yet concise overview of Western legal thought for readers. The book also reflects a contemporary perspective, drawing on recent research achievements in the field and adopting a cutting-edge approach to engage with the works of great thinkers. It gives full attention to important figures in modern Western legal thought, such as Hayek, Habermas, and Posner.