Open AccessA Short History of Western Legal Theory by J M Kelly
Author(s) -
Sandra Petersson
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
victoria university of wellington law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1179-3082
pISSN - 1171-042X
DOI - 10.26686/vuwlr.v31i4.5931
Subject(s) - law , jurisprudence , legal history , comparative law , black letter law , philosophy of law , sociology , political science , private law
This article is a book review of J M Kelly A Short History of Western Legal Theory (reprint, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1997) (466 + xvi pages, $75). Kelly's aim was to make the reader see jurisprudence in its historical setting, something that Petersson agrees was done well. The book discusses the history of Western legal theory through the ages, tracing key themes including Theory of the State, Validity of Law, Rule of Law, Nature and Purpose of Law, Natural Law, Equality, Property, Equity, Criminal Law and Punishment, and International Law. Petersson notes that Kelly's work is notably non-Anglocentric. However, Petersson comments on Kelly's failure to treat positivism as its own separate conception of law, as well as Kelly's omission of feminist legal theories.