Raymond Wacks

Disappointing to me. Rather than a general introduction to the philosophy of law, it was more like a hodgepodge of various writings about the law and capsule biographies. Also lots of “x-ism fought against y-ism but was eventually followed by z-ism.” I would have rather had good coherent explanations of the main currents of the topic rather than lots of difficult to grasp quotes from various writers.

These Oxford “Very Short Introduction” titles vary wildly in quality. It’s great there are so many of them by such a wide variety of experts, but I wish they were more consistently approachable by members of the general public.… (more)

This is a very, very basic introduction to law. I read through it, somehow always expecting it to go further than what I already knew. I don't think I learned anything about the American law system—in fact, parts of the book, especially on criminal law and on race, are actively misleading. What I did learn was about other justice systems, e.g., British law and civil law systems. Differences in contract law, in the legal professions, in judicial review were all new to me; and perhaps I picked up enough little factoids to make the book worth while.… (more)

READ IT QUICKLY FROM PAGE TO PAGE:
It is that sort of book!

It’s great to have a reasonably slim volume on jurisprudence and legal theory which attains the right level for the reader. Professor Wacks has always produced thought-provoking works and this one is no exception as an invaluable stimulus to learning at the right level.

Wacks describes the concept of law as lying at the heart of our social and political life, to give it mass audience interest even though some learners feel forced to studying jurisprudence which they think is ‘all about politics, anyway’! Wacks dispels these concerns, saying that much of the turgid prose we have on jurisprudence is “an impenetrable thicket to all but the professional jurist” but therein lies the problem- making the subject interesting to those who dislike considering this area of our human existence.

Rightly, this is ‘unashamedly a book for students’ and it works, not as a textbook, but very much the link between the formal textbook and the myriad of notes we take when attending lectures. The problem I always found with jurisprudence was the huge number of references to be looked at, from which I needed to make a selection, for a reasonable essay answer. In the days before regular use of the internet that meant leaning heavily on ‘Lloyd’ (becoming ‘Lloyd & Freeman’) and the specific essays of jurists like Austin, Raz, Hart, Dworkin and Rawls, to name but a few.

What Wacks has done is link his main text with the main jurist authorities by name depending on the importance of the points they make, and then adding questions, detailed notes and excellent further reading. What I would like to see are web links as well (probably because I am lazy) but it would help to go directly to those sources I would wish to quote from.

To take an example, when examining social theory years ago before the book came out, I quoted Habermas in an essay but had to actually get his book to make the point, which took up a lot of time. Internet access today gives us the information at our fingertips and I would envisage web links becoming an important additional tool as long as the learners do not abuse it in their stated bibliographies, as a quick way out of their labours!

There are 12 main chapters covering the topics one would revise for the exams, and there is a most useful short glossary at the back with an index which relies heavily on named jurists and is equally effective for cross referencing. Professor Wacks has set up a simple structure for the book, which will celebrate 20 years of germination shortly. His chapter questions are the key to examination success centering on:

1. Identification of the central problems in each of the areas analysed;

2. The provision of fodder for reflection and discussion in seminars or study groups; and

3. Giving assistance to learners when revising for exams or assessments.

I like this approach which reflects modern teaching practice well.

When reading the Preface, I was reminded of lecturer and casebook compiler Tony Weir’s naming of his two cats as “Donoghue” and “Stevenson” (needless to say, he taught Tort at Cambridge!) and I wondered idly whether Wacks’ doves ‘Lily’ and ‘Willy’ should be renamed as ‘Dworkin’ and ‘Rawls’ for the helpful pointers they gave Professor Wacks during his writing deliberations!

He concludes his introductory remarks to the book by stating his principle objective as pointing learners in the right direction, “soaring above needless deviation, mystification and impediment- not unlike my discerning doves’. I note it was written in Umbria, Italy, so that explains a few things about his muse and proofreading technique.

I am very grateful to Wacks for this book and I was touched by some comments he made which reminded me of my teaching practice when he writes “the perplexed and occasionally bewildered faces of my long-suffering students over the years have been in my mind’s eye throughout the writing of the pages that follow.” It is that human feeling and the personal touch throughout which gives “Understanding Jurisprudence” its rightful position at the top of the ‘readable’ list of books on jurisprudence and I thank it for it.… (more)