ABSTRACT
The most important general advice to any new student to the subject of jurisprudence is to identify the viewpoint of the legal theorist. Identifying the legal theorist's viewpoint on law will prevent confusion and many misunderstandings. Students can gain extra marks by locating the perspective on law that a particular legal theorist takes. John Austin and Jeremy Bentham explained the nature of the political system and then proceed to explain the nature of law by placing it within the political system. For a legal theory to ignore the moral and sociological realities framing the law it must be the case that that legal theory is focusing purely on the lawyer's perspective. In a slightly different way Dennis Galligan has a strong commitment to a certain type of law - not an 'ideal' type favoured by Finnis, but what Galligan calls 'modern legal orders'. He gives a full descriptive account of such legal systems in Law in Modern Society.
