Blackstone enabled English law to be taught as a course in universities as well as Roman law taught at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Thus, the law has gained the feature of being a field of learning.
(1723-1780) English jurist. He provided English law to be taught as a course in universities. He was born on 10 July 1723 in London and died on 14 February 1780 in Wallingford. After studying at Oxford University, he lectured on English law there. In 1758 he became the first professor of English law again at Oxford University. His four-volume Commentaries on the Laws of England, written between 1759 and 1769, are explanations of English laws and contain lectures. He was a member of parliament between 1768 and 1770. He also served as a judge of the Court of Appeal for ten years between 1770 and 1780. He prepared a new edition of the Magna Carta.
Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, justice and Tory politician most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England which became the best-known description of the doctrines of English law. Born into a middle-class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1738.
Blackstone enabled English law to be taught as a course in universities as well as Roman law taught at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Thus, the law has gained the feature of being a field of learning. He not only taught the history, unity, and foundations of English law but also established the relationship of this law with history, philosophy, and political sciences, with the educational arrangement that made systematic and theoretical examination possible.
His book Commentaries provided a comparison of English law with Roman law and the law prevailing in Continental Europe. He put English law, which had existed in a complex form until then, into an understandable and usable situation.
Blacktone's insistence on the value of established customs and traditions and his view of the gradual development of law make him the forerunner of the dominant 19th-century historian view, particularly Savigny.
Blackstone's views also helped in the utilitarian current of law reform and the founding of the Analytical School. Blackstone's aim was to train individuals who could comprehend the existing legal system and make adequate explanations, rather than establishing a critical jurisprudence. He considered the topics covered to be of widespread social interest and saw his book more as a handbook for the "man in the street" than a scholarly treatise. Emphasizing the distinction between natural law and positive law, Blackstone argues that there is a natural law and argues that a positive law that is incompatible with the principles of natural law cannot be considered as law.
Blackstone's views were also influential in the development of law and institutions in America. The influence of his book before the American Independence Movement played an important role in the establishment of English law in the colonies.
Much of Blackstone's views and work on legal and political philosophy are influenced by Pufendorf, Locke, and Montesquieu. Montesquieu's acceptance of the principle of separation of powers is considered an ascription made without examining whether it is suitable for English law and political life. Some of his views, especially his views on law and administration, were influenced by the legal and political movements that emerged in Europe in the 18th century. Like other writers of his time, he confused law and ethics.
According to Blackstone, the only man among created beings is endowed with reason and free will. Therefore, unlike other creatures, he can be conscious of divine laws and decide whether or not to obey them. Although Blackstone is in favor of natural rights, he considers the superiority of man, the power of his mind, and the qualities of his will.
Blackstone's importance lies in what he does in action rather than in what he puts forward in theory. By defending the supremacy of the parliamentary system, he was influential in the spread of the idea of constitutionalism in England. He pioneered the prison reform movement. In certain areas of uniqueness, for example, the laws of contract, his thinking is more advanced than his contemporaries. Blackstone saw his work as an educational reform rather than a philosophical system.