Undergraduate - UnitLAW4137 - Legal philosophy 406

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Law
Offered	Clayton First semester 2013 (Day)

Synopsis

Topics include: legal positivism - classical and contemporary, inclusive and exclusive; natural law theory; Dworkin's legal theory; perspectives on law - liberalism, feminism, critical legal studies; the obligation to obey the law.

Outcomes

Students will acquire a basic understanding of the major contemporary philosophies of law and legal reasoning, and the main lines of debate between them. In particular, students will:

acquire an understanding of how each philosophy regards the relationships between law and justice, and legal and moral reasoning
develop an appreciation of how the debates between these philosophies illuminate actual controversies in the practical administration of legal systems.

Assessment

Compulsory research assignment (2500 words): 50% and examination (2 hours writing time plus 30 minutes reading and noting time): 50%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Dale Smith

Contact hours

Three hours of lectures per week

Prerequisites

LAW1100 or LAW1101 and LAW1102 or LAW1104; LAW2200 or LAW2201 and LAW2202 OR ATS2868/3868. ATS2869/3869 OR ATS2905/3905