BJU201 | Jurisprudence I

This course builds on foundational concepts from Legal Methods, advancing students’ philosophical understanding of law, its normativity, and its intersections with morality and justice. In Jurisprudence, we explore core questions: What is law? How does it relate to morality? How should general rules apply to specific cases? What are legal obligations? What is justice?

Through examining influential twentieth- and early twenty-first-century debates in legal theory, including the exchanges between H.L.A. Hart, Ronald Dworkin, and Lon Fuller, this course critically engages with discussions on the nature of law, the moral duty to obey it, and the conceptualisation of justice.

Students will also engage with critiques of the analytical tradition, including perspectives from Critical Legal Studies (CLS) and feminist jurisprudence, which question the objectivity and inclusivity of traditional legal theories and explore the impact of social power structures on legal practice.