First published in 1921, the work of the most authoritative American judge of the 20th century. not only went through nine lifetime editions, but still enjoys a well-deserved reputation among American judges. The book became a manifesto of a new, now dominant understanding of common law as a law created by judges (). At the same time, the work was written based on the latest (at that time) trends in European legal thought and is permeated with deep intellectual ties with the jurisprudence of continental Europe. The book captures how the autonomy of law and the development of it by judges through one analogy (“philosophical method”) is replaced by the consciousness of an active position of judging, taking legal decisions in public life itself, but creatively processing them (“sociological method”). The book is a must-read for anyone interested in legal theory and legal methodology and is recommended for all students of law.