LJU100 | Jurisprudence

The Jurisprudence course is an introduction to the philosophy of law and some important debates between legal philosophers regarding the nature of law and its normativity, the connections between law and morality, the obligation to obey the law and views about justice. The Legal Methods course also explores some of these themes, but the Jurisprudence course is focused on engaging specifically with topics in legal philosophy.

While the debates in jurisprudence are set at a level of abstraction, this course will elucidate the profound implications of these concepts on the everyday practice of law. For instance, this includes the relationship between the interpretation of rules and the debates between HLA Hart and Ronald Dworkin, and the dispensation of justice through State machinery in light of the various theories of social justice.

With a view to critically assess different ideas regarding law and justice in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, this course will engage with the writings of select legal philosophers of the analytical tradition in depth. The course will also engage with theoretical schools that have challenged the views of the analytical tradition, particularly Critical Legal Studies (CLS) and feminist jurisprudence.