WHAT IS LAW?

The term law has no assigned meaning. It is used in a variety of senses. Although different writers have attempted to explain the term Law, no generally accepted explanation has emerged.
The study of the nature of law is known as Jurisprudence. Persons who explained the term law from the same point of view form a school of jurisprudence/thought.
The word jurisprudence derives from the Latin term jurisprudentia, which means “the study, knowledge, or science of law.” In the United States jurisprudence commonly means the philosophy of law. Legal philosophy has many aspects, but four of them are the most common.
The first and the most prevalent form of jurisprudence seek to analyze, explain, classify, and criticize entire bodies of law. Law school textbooks and legal encyclopaedias represent this type of scholarship.
The second type of jurisprudence compares and contrasts law with other fields of knowledge such as literature, economics, religion and the social sciences.
The third type of jurisprudence seeks to reveal the historical, moral, and cultural basis of a particular legal concept.
The fourth body of jurisprudence focuses on finding the answer to such abstract questions as “What is law?” and “How do judges (properly) decide cases?”