Book Recommendations on the History of the Philosophy of Law

March 9, 2016 5:47 AM

I'm looking for a good book on the History of Legal Philosophy, or History of Jurisprudence that covers everything from Greece (Solon), Rome (12-Tables to Justinian Law), Germanic Law, English Common Law, and maybe a bit on 20th Century Legal Though, Legal Postivism, H.A. Hart, etc.

Basically, I"m looking for a Philosophy of Law analog to Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy" or Leo Strauss' "History of Political Philosophy".


Alternatively just a book on the History of Law itself might be of interest. I haven't been able to find anything.

posted by mary8nne to Education (5 answers total)

For the history of philosophy of law and jurisprudence specifically: I don't know if there's a good single-volume book on that topic, but the 12 volume series A Treatise of Legal Philosophy and General Jurisprudence is pretty comprehensive. It's priced quite steeply, so I recommend finding library copies. It weighs in at several thousand pages and should keep you busy for a while.

More concisely (if necessarily narrower in focus), Friedman's History of American Law is a classic.

This page from the Lewis & Clark Law School's law library offers a good summary of legal history books. Their recommendations for books on non-American legal history:

Barry Nicholas’s An Introduction to Roman Law (1962) is a short, highly readable introduction to the sophisticated Roman legal system, which provides the foundation for virtually all of the world’s non-Common Law legal systems, including those of most of Europe, Japan, Brazil, and South Africa. R.C. Van Caenegem’s brief The Birth of the English Common Law (2d ed. 1988) and Arthur R. Hogue’s slightly more expansive The Origins of the Common Law (1966) both provide excellent overviews of the origins of Anglo-American law. Theodore F.T. Plucknett’s A Concise History of the Common Law (5th ed. 1956) remains, despite its age, the best single volume work on English legal history.

posted by jedicus at 9:21 AM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

I really enjoyed The Metaphysical Club, Louis Menand's telling of Oliver Wendell Holmes and his peers.
posted by mmiddle at 11:14 AM on March 9, 2016

Blackwell has a guide to Phil law, and Oxford handbooks in law and law and politics. Might be useful.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:07 AM on March 10, 2016

Response by poster: That Springer series: A Treatise of legal philosophy and general jurisprudence looks rather insane and detailed.

I will have to look for it at the uni Libraries around here. Or might have to head up to the British Library to get access.

I have glanced at the Oxford Handbooks and the Blackwell Companions on occasion. But I think they are quite focussed on contemporary issues in Law and don't include essays on more historic-philosophical issues. Which is kind of my interest area. But that said I think I will have a look at these at the library.
posted by mary8nne at 1:56 AM on March 10, 2016

Response by poster: I ended up finding a copy of this in a local library and it is proving to be exactly what I wanted.

John M. Kelly, A Short History of Western Legal Theory, (Oxford: Clarendon Press)

It is periodized history of legal thought. Just working my way through 17th Century section and its a really good introductory text. Provides a very good summary of the key writings and the general concepts illuminating each era. I would recommend it.
posted by mary8nne at 8:30 AM on April 10, 2016