Schools of Thought in Modern Jurisprudence

1. Philosophical/Natural Law School

• Core Belief: Law is based on a universal moral order, justice, and ethics.
• Key Concept: Naturalists believe that law is the dictates of reason .
• Key Jurists: Aristotle (Founder), Grotius, Locke, Rousseau.

2. Analytical / Imperative School (Austinian School)

• Core Belief: Focuses on the relation of law with the state. Law is the command of the sovereign backed by sanction (punishment).
• Key Concept: John Austin is the core pioneer of the Imperative School of Thought (also called legal positivism).
• Key Jurists: Jeremy Bentham, John Austin.

3. Realist School (Legal Realism)

• Core Belief: Focuses on the actual working of law in courts rather than abstract rules on paper.
• Key Concept: Legal Realism holds that law is the practice of courts.
• US Pioneer: In the United States, Legal Realism was analyzed and popularized by Oliver Wendell Holmes (who famously declared that law is what courts do in fact).
• Key Jurists: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Gray, Jerome Frank, Llewellyn.