Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to restore some of the breadth of subject matter and method that animated the studies of illustrious predecessor at the University of Glasgow. In a series of lectures delivered at the University of Glasgow beginning in 1762, Adam Smith, the Professor of Moral Philosophy, delineated the province of jurisprudence. It attempts to navigate through the complexity by organising the material around two broad thematic axes: law and modernity, and legal system and legal reasoning. The book provides students with an introduction to, and overview of, the historical and philosophical development of understandings of a range of profoundly important social concerns, with the aim of enabling them to analyse and reflect on the role of law and legal practice more broadly.