Last modified: 22 May 2019 17:07
Jurisprudence is a course in legal theory. The course looks into the major theoretical traditions that shaped legal thinking in the 20th century: legal positivism, the natural law doctrine, legal realism, the economic analysis of law, etc. It is designed to help students develop a self-conscious and reflective attitude to some of the hotly contested issues of modern law, like the relationship between law and morality, or the ways in which legal education is related to the legal practice.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | None. | Sustained Study | No |
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The course provides a historical overview of the developments that led to the emergence of the contemporary legal theoretical discourses. It focuses on two main themes: the different accounts of the normativity of law and the issue of legal pragmatism. The issue of normativity is used as a focal point to discuss the debates between Legal Positivism and the Natural Law Doctrine. The students will learn to understand the fundamental differences between those two perspectives, and to appreciate their theoretical and practical implications. The other main theme, pragmatism will be used to provide a deeper understanding of American Legal Realism, Process Jurisprudence, and the kind of pragmatism represented by the Economic Analysis of Law.
This is an elective course for the degree of LLB or MA Legal Studies and is in addition openly available for discipline breadth study.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).
Resit: 1 two-hour examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25% carried forward).
The students will be required to submit a written answer to one mock exam question from the previous years covering the first two topics of the course (naturalism and legal positivism).
The students will get written feedback for both their submission for formative assessment and the essay (in-course assessment) within three weeks of submission. Feedback will also be provided on an ongoing basis in the form of tutors' comments to students' contributions in tutorials. Students who fail on first attempt will be able to arrange a meeting in advance of the resit to discuss their examination performance.
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