果冻影院

The module provides the opportunity for rigorous study of selected topics in contemporary Anglo-American general jurisprudence.

Aims

• To raise students鈥� critical awareness of some major issues in legal philosophy in the Anglo-American tradition聽

• To develop and discipline students鈥� analytical and critical abilities by having them engage in both oral and written abstract arguments聽

• To enable and encourage students to think critically about the relation between the nature of law on the one hand and legal doctrines and institutions on the other聽

Module syllabus

General jurisprudence, broadly speaking, is an inquiry into the nature of law.鈥� This half module will canvas and also take some concentrated looks at Austin鈥檚 command theory of law, Hart鈥檚 theory based on a combination of two kinds of rules, Dworkin鈥檚 interpretivist theory, and Raz鈥檚 authority-based theory.鈥� Along the way, we will deal with some of the relevant issues such as the nature of legal adjudication, the relation between law and morality, the difference between norms and values on the one hand and natural and social facts on the other, etc.鈥�聽

Recommended materials聽

• H.L.A. Hart鈥疶he Concept of鈥疞aw, 2nd or 3rd鈥痚d. (1996 or 2012)聽

• Ronald Dworkin,鈥疶aking Rights Seriously鈥�(1977)聽

聽Module reading lists and other module materials will be provided via online module pages, available at the beginning of term once students have enrolled.聽

Preliminary reading聽

• Jeremy Waldron, 鈥淟aw鈥�, in鈥疶he Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy, edited by Frank Jackson & Michael Smith (2005)聽

Key Information