On Cardozo's Judicial Philosophy

Benjamin·N·Cardozo is one of the most influential judges in American history. In 1891, he got the qualification as a solicitor before he obtained a law degree. When he was 42-year-old, after being a successful lawyer for many years, he became a judge of the court of New York State. In 1932, Cardozo became a justice of the Federal Supreme Court of the United States and worked for six years until death. Cardoso never married, and devoted his whole life to the law. He made many wonderful judgments, and the most famous is his judicial philosophy.This paper divides into three parts to describe the judicial philosophy of Cardozo. Part One is the background, including Cardoso's personal experience, the era of Cardozo and the jurists who influence Cardozo. Cardozo was living in the great changeable period. At that time, the society was undergoing dramatic changes, so did the common law. Holmes' thought deeply influenced Cardozo. Many of Cardozo's ideas can be found in Holmes' books, and he developed the theory deeply.Part Two is Cardozo's judicial philosophy, including the theory of the growth of law, the theory of judicial methods and theory of judge-making law. The theory of the growth of law is the base of the theory of judicial methods and theory of judge-making law. The growth of the law discusses the assurance of law and the important of the growth of law. The main way of the growth of law is the judicial way, and the base of the growth of the law is the social needs. The theory of judicial methods discusses Cardozo's four judicial methods, including the method of philosophy, the method of history, the method of tradition and the method of sociology. The method of sociology is the most important judicial method. Then I analyze the relationship among the four judicial methods. The theory of Judge-making law discusses the necessity of judge-making law, how does judge make law and the limitation of Judge-making law.Part Three gives the evaluation of Cardozo's judicial philosophy. Cardozo's judicial philosophy is one of leniency realistic jurisprudence. The function and the ends of law is the foundation of Cardozo's judicial philosophy. Cardozo's judicial philosophy decreases the difference between natural law and positive law. Cardozo's judicial philosophy is the judicial philosophy of elite judges,so the quality of judges is asked to be very high.