John Austin
John Austin was an English legal theorist born into a merchant family in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 1790. Initially serving in the military, he began his legal training in 1812 and was called to the bar six years later. Despite having influential friends like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, Austin struggled to find success in legal practice and left the field in 1825. He became the first professor of jurisprudence at the newly established University of London in 1826, where he published significant works, including "The Province of Jurisprudence Determined" in 1832, advocating for a separation of law from moral and religious considerations.
Austin's teaching career did not attract many students, leading to his resignation in 1832. He then transitioned to government service, including a role as a royal commissioner in Malta, where he addressed governance issues. His health and personal challenges hindered his career, and he never fully realized the potential noted by his contemporaries. Although he faced difficulties during his lifetime, Austin's analytical approach to legal theory laid the groundwork for future jurisprudence studies in England, with his works gaining prominence posthumously, notably through the efforts of his wife, Sarah Taylor Austin.
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John Austin
Jurist
- Born: March 3, 1790
- Birthplace: Ipswich, Suffolk, England
- Died: December 17, 1859
- Place of death: Weybridge, England
Biography
John Austin was born into a merchant family in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. His father was a prosperous miller. After serving for five years in the military in Sicily and Malta, young Austin began his legal training in 1812. He was called to the English bar in 1818. Early in his career, he became intimate friends with some very influential people, including Jeremy Bentham, James Mill, John Stuart Mill, and Thomas Carlyle, all of whom made contributions to the success that Austin achieved. After handling a few legal cases, Austin did not feel that he had the character to be a successful lawyer and quit practicing law in 1825.
When the University of London was established in 1826, Austin was appointed as its first professor of jurisprudence. To enhance his academic credentials and prepare for his lectures, he studied Roman law and German civil law in Bonn, Germany, between 1827 and 1828. In 1832, his lectures were published in The Province of Jurisprudence Determined. In this classic work, he advocated that law was a series of commands from a higher authority and that positive law can be separated from moral principles, religion, convention, and custom. Since Austin failed to attract very many students, he resigned his University of London chair in the latter part of 1832.
In 1833, Austin moved into government service, taking a job on the Criminal Law Commission. When his suggestions and ideas were not implemented, he resigned. In 1834, he presented his jurisprudence lectures at the Society of the Inner Temple in London but again attracted few participants. As a result, he decided to give up teaching law.
In 1836, Austin was appointed as the royal commissioner to Malta. From then until 1848, he and his wife, Sarah Taylor Austin, lived abroad, spending a great deal of their time in Paris. His primary work concerned the investigation of complaints about how the British colony Malta was being governed. While serving in this capacity, Austin would occasionally write papers focused on political themes, but his demand for perfectionism stifled many of his writings. As his views on legal, political, and moral issues changed during his latter years, he planned to publish a revised edition of The Province of Jurisprudence Determined, but failed to do so.
After returning to London in 1848, the main financial support for the Austins was provided by Sarah, who worked as a translator and a reviewer. Plagued by bad health, a nervous disposition, and bouts with depression, Austin never reached the potential that many of his influential friends thought he would. His careers in law, academia, and government service all ended rather quickly.
Austin’s greatest influence came posthumously. He was the first writer to discuss the theory of law from a rigorous analytical point of view, which established the dominant approach for discussing the nature of law. After his death, his wife worked tirelessly to publicize his writings. She was responsible for getting his Lectures on Jurisprudence: Or, The Philosophy of Positive Law, published in 1861. That work, along with his lectures that were published in The Province of Jurisprudence Determined, became the foundation for the study of jurisprudence in England.