Jurisprudence of Interests, American

The jurisprudence of interests was an American legal philosophy that developed in the first half of the twentieth century. Its main proponents were Arthur Bentley (1870–1957) and Roscoe Pound (1870–1964). Some American legal realists also appeared to accept at least part of this jurisprudence. Rudolf von Jhering (1818–1892), a German legal scholar, originated the idea of understanding law as a process in which conflicting interests are balanced. Karl Marx (1818–1883) also envisioned a political struggle between economic classes in which the interests of each class were asserted. Jhering's view, however, which some called social utilitarianism, was the inspiration for the American theorists. He also inspired a group of German scholars in the twentieth century, including Philipp Heck (1858–1943) and Max von Rümelin (1861–1931).