As to how they conceive their realization, the Anarchistic teachings
divide into the _reformatory_, which conceive the transition from the
negated to the affirmed condition as without breach of law (Godwin,
Proudhon), and _revolutionary_, which conceive this transition as a
breach of law. The revolutionary teachings, again, divide into
_renitent_, which conceive the breach of law as without the use of force
(Tucker, Tolstoi) and _insurgent_, which conceive it as attended by the
use of force (Stirner, Bakunin, Kropotkin).
II. _The place of the Anarchistic teachings in the total realm of our
experience._
1. There must be distinguished three lines of thought in the philosophy
of law: that is, three fashions of judging law.
The first is _jurisprudential dogmatism_. It judges whether a legal
institution ought to exist or not, and it judges quite unconditionally,
solely by what the institution consists of, without regard to its
effect under this or that particular set of circumstances. It embraces,
therefore, the doctrines of a _proper law_: that is, the schools that
seek to determine what law--for instance, whether the legal institution
of marriage--is under all circumstances to be approved or to be
disapproved. Its best known form is "natural law."
The weakness of jurisprudential dogmatism lies in its not taking account
of the fact that our judgment of legal institutions must depend on their
effects, and that one and the same legal institution has under different
circumstances altogether different effects.
The second line of thought is _jurisprudential skepticism_. In view of
the weakness of jurisprudential dogmatism it foregoes judgment on
whether a legal institution ought to exist or not, and pronounces
judgment only on whether the tendency of evolution gives ground for
expecting that a legal institution will persist or disappear, arise or
remain non-existent. It embraces, therefore, the doctrines of the
_evolution of law_: that is, the schools that undertake to inform us
what sort of law is to be expected in future--for instance, whether the
legal institution of marriage has a prospect of remaining in force among
us. Its best-known forms are the historical school in the science of
law, and Marxism.
The weakness of jurisprudential skepticism consists in its not meeting
our want of a scientific basis that shall enable us to recognize as
correct or incorrect the incessantly-appearing judgments on the value of
legal institutions, and to approve or disapprove the manifold
propositions for changes in law.
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