The Age of Blackstone and Kames

Abstract

Selden and Hale presented a reorientated vision of the common law, which focused on law as the product of positive imposition. They saw custom as a set of positive rules originating in the past, which had been developed by judicial argument in court. In their vision, the law of nature played a muted role, as a premise of the system rather than as a working tool. This vision proved a particularly influential one on common lawyers, as can be seen from an examination of the most important English jurist of the eighteenth century, Sir William Blackstone.