Module description
Jurisprudence: The nature of law and legal reasoning. The relationship between law and power. The positivist view of law as exclusively source-based, and its critics. Varieties of law, including legal powers and legal duties. Constitutions, and their role in identifying the sources of law and establishing the systematic character of law. The authority of law, and its capacity to offer reasons for action.
Anarchism, and its challenge to the possibility of a moral obligation to obey the law. The basis and scope of any obligation to obey the law. The limits of liberal government: the public realm, neutrality, justice and autonomy. The State and its power. Justice at the domestic and global level.
Term 2: Special topics in the second term (students choose one from a list similar to the following): Autonomy and Responsibility; Allocation Resources: Between Efficiency and Social Justice; Conscience and the Law; Global Values, Global Norms Global Indicators; Moral Philosophy, Shakespeare on Law and Uncertainty; Tyranny and Dictatorship; (Assessment of special topics by extended essay).
Assessment details
Examination (50%); 2500-word Essay (50%)
Teaching pattern
Lecture (2 x 1 hour per week), Tutorial (1 x 1 hour per week), Seminar (1 x 2 hour for 11 weeks) - optional subjects in semester 2