Jurisprudence (LAW-663-001)
Dodd
Meets: 01:00 PM - 02:50 PM (W) - Room 500
Enrolled: 17 / Limit: 18
Notices
Plus 1-Hr. tutorial
Description
During the first half of the semester, this seminar will consider some central writings in the analytic tradition of legal philosophy, paying particular attention to questions concerning the origin and justification of legal systems. Philosophers and schools of thought include the following: natural law, positivism, the Hart-Fuller debate, legal realism, and Ronald Dworkin.
In the second half of the semester, we will address debates about judicial philosophy and legal reasoning, with a special focus on the law/politics distinction. We will examine scholarship that asks how judges might be constrained in their decision-making - ie., through precedent, originalism, deference to elected branches, etc. As we read work by Scalia, Dworkin, Breyer, critical legal scholars and others, we will evaluate how the legal interpretation of statutes, common law, and the Constitution is different from any other type of political decisions, and what our conclusions imply for the ideology of the rule of law. Students will have the option to write a research paper; the other alternative is a take-home exam.
Textbooks and Other Materials
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First Class Readings
Not available at this time.
Syllabus
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