born Aug. 22, 1818, Aurich, Hanover
died Sept. 17, 1892, Göttingen, Ger.
German legal scholar.
He taught Roman law at Giessen (185268), at Göttingen (from 1872), and at four other universities (including the University of Vienna) for briefer periods. He examined the relationship between law and social change in The Spirit of Roman Law (185265) and between individual and social interests in Law as a Means to an End (187783). He maintained that the purpose of law is to protect individual and societal interests by coordinating them and thus minimizing occasions for conflict. He is sometimes called the father of sociological jurisprudence .