LL305     
Jurisprudence

This information is for the 2024/25 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Michael Wilkinson

Availability

This course is compulsory on the LLB in Laws. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.

Course content

The aims of the course are: To introduce students to philosophical thinking about the law. To familiarise students with the main methodological, conceptual, and normative issues in the study of law and its legitimacy. To provide students with knowledge of some of the most influential legal and political philosophers and their theories of the state and law. To encourage and enable students to think about doctrinal legal questions from a philosophical and critical perspective. To help students to develop legal reasoning skills by training them in abstract, philosophical arguments. Some of the themes that the course covers are: the social contract tradition (Hobbes, Kant, Rawls, Rousseau); the democratic legitimacy of the state and its law; Marxism and critical theory; Arendt’s political theory and its implications for law; methodology in jurisprudence; natural law; legal positivism; the rule of law and legality; the use and significance of principles in adjudication and legal reasoning.

Teaching

This course will have a minimum of two hours of teaching content each week in Autumn Term and Winter Term in the form of a lecture (every week) and one hour class. This course includes a reading week in Weeks 6 of Autumn Term and Winter Term.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to write at least one essay per term.

Indicative reading

Students are provided with outlines and readings for topics discussed in the Michaelmas and Lent Terms. For some introductory and background reading see: S. Veitch, E. Christodoulidis, and M. Goldoni, Jurisprudence: Themes and Concepts (3rd. ed), Routledge 2018; J.E. Penner and E. Melissaris, McCoubrey & White's Textbook on Jurisprudence, OUP 2012; Brian Bix, Jurisprudence: Theory and Context (3rd ed.), Thomson Sweet & Maxwell 2003.

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours and 30 minutes) in the spring exam period.

Key facts

Department: Law School

Total students 2023/24: 175

Average class size 2023/24: 12

Capped 2023/24: No

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Personal development skills

  • Communication
  • Specialist skills