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Legal Theory - LAWS3331
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Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Undergraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Prerequisite: LAWS1001 and LAWS1011 and Corequisite: LAWS2311; Prerequisite: JURD7101 and JURD7111 and Corequisite: JURD7211
 
 
Excluded: JURD7223, JURD7431, LAWS2320
 
 
CSS Contribution Charge:Band 3 (more info)
 
 
Tuition Fee:See Tuition Fee Schedule
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

The course is composed of two parts. In part one we discuss a number of basic notions associated with contemporary legal philosophy. These include - the nature of legal analysis, the separation of law from other areas of social life, the character of legal positivism, the role of the legal decision-maker, the nature of moral judgment, the difference in moral theory between the right and the good, liberalism as a political theory and its opponents, the meaning of liberty and liberalism's attitude to rights and to cultural difference. In part two we apply some of these ideas to a number of 'problems' in contemporary legal practice. Just which problems varies from semester to semester but typical areas of study would be – the claim to universality of human rights, the liberal response to cultural diversity, feminism and difference, religion and the nature of public reason, legal responsibility and punishment, constitutionalism and the rule of law, the underpinnings of private law, our responsibility to ‘strangers’, the character of legal decision-making.

Note: If taken as a compulsory course, it is LAWS2320 (6 UOC)


Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

  • To help you think of law as a phenomenon which may usefully be investigated from viewpoints other than that of the practitioner – that of the philosopher, the historian, the sociologist, the anthropologist, the political scientist, the economist, etc.
  • To acquaint you with the vocabulary of philosophical reflection on law
  • To develop your skills in applying legal principles in the appropriate context
  • To encourage a critical approach in considering social and legal institutions
  • To explore the relationship between law on the one hand and personal and public morality on the other

Main Topics

  • Introduction - law's autonomy
  • Weber on modernity and law
  • Holmes
  • Hart
  • Dworkin
  • Positivism reassessed
  • Legal decision-making
  • Approaches to legal judgment
  • Morals - the difference between ancients and moderns
  • Kant
  • Ethics of care
  • Morality and ethical life Politics - liberalism
  • Individualism
  • The communitarian critique
  • Liberalism and difference
  • The universality of rights
  • Legal analysis
  • Historical injustice
  • Law and Multiculturalism
  • Law and the nation state, responsibility to outsiders
  • Law and the supervision of mental illness
  • The feminist critique of law
  • Law and religion

Assessment

3 x 1800 word essays - 100%

Course Texts

Prescribed
There are two volumes of prescribed Legal Theory materials. These can be obtained from the UNSW Bookshop.

Recommended
Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.

Resources

Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.

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© 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.