SOCIAL LEGAL REALISM Philosophy of Social Legal Realism

SOCIAL LEGAL REALISM

Philosophy of Social Legal Realism JOHN DEWEY (1859 -1952) On Knowledge: “intercourse of a living being with his physical and social environment” “learning by doing and participation” On Law: “the life of the law is the social experience of the people and tested and guided by social experience” “through and through social phenomenon”

Source of Law 1. Human activities 2. Human interactivities Social experience of the people

Source of Law AGAINST NATURAL LAW THEORY Natural Law Under the precepts of righteousness, justice, equality, and fairness Dogmatic principles and simplistic criteria is incapable of dealing effectively with the changing requirements of human events “unless a source higher and more fixed than that of experience can be found, there is no sure ground for any genuinely philosophic valuation of law as it actually exists” - John Dewey

Source of Law COMPARED TO HISTORICAL LAW THEORY Volksgeist of Freidrich Karl von Savigny (17791861) • Custom – group of people recognizes and accepts the desirable human activity • Usage – enriched by the desirable human interactivities

Purpose of Law SOCIAL CONTENTMENT The satisfaction which comes when the dominant active tendencies are made interests in the maintenance and propagation of the things that make life worth living

Application of Law There can be no basis of the law in the real sense, until law is set into operation in the field modifying and/or maintaining human activities as going concerns Social Control – implicit in the use of threat of sanctions for the attainment of social ends