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Contemporary Legal & Social Theory: Jurgen Habermas 2 - LAWS4336
Law Books

 
Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Postgraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 4
 
 
EFTSL: 0.08333 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2
 
 
Fee Band: 3 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

This course follows directly on from Studies in Contemporary Legal and Social Theory - Jurgen Habermas 1 (LAWS4335) and will further develop the approach and themes covered in that course. Now, however, instead of focusing on Habermas's general theory of rationality, society and law as set out in The Theory of Communicative Action, we will focus on Habermas's more recent work Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy (1996) - a rich and detailed work that concentrates exclusively on law.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

LAWS4335 Studies in Contemporary Legal and Social Theory - Jurgen Habermas 1. It is advisable that students will have done, or be doing concurrently, LAWS8320 Legal Theory or LAWS8820 Law and Social Theory. Any student wishing to do LAWS4336 only must seek the permission of the teacher. Students wishing to take this course and LAWS2333 Advanced Legal and Social Theory should consult the teacher of this course first since there is some overlap and special arrangements will have to be made with respect to assessment.

Course Objectives

Students should:
  • Acquire a good grounding in one important theorist
  • Gain a sense of what is happening in contemporary legal and social theory at large

Main Topics

  • The role that law plays in reflexively integrating highly complex, decentered and pluralist societies
  • The rights and principles law must embody for it to perform this role
  • The model of democracy that is, in turn, entailed by these rights
  • The reciprocal relations between law, rights, society and democracy

Assessment

Research essay
4,000 words (postgraduate), or
3,000 words (undergraduate)
100% or
100%
 

Course Texts

Prescribed
One volume of prescribed Studies in Contemporary Legal and Social Theory - Jurgen Habermas 2 materials. These materials are mainly selected from Between Facts and Norms and other recent writing on law by Habermas.

Recommended
None

Resources

Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer at the beginning of session.

URL for this page:

© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.