Dr Lewis Ross LAK 401

This course is available on the MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy, MSc in Philosophy of Economics and the Social Sciences and MSc in Philosophy of Science. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This half-unit course tackles philosophical issues raised by the law and criminal justice. No prior legal knowledge is required. The first half of the course discusses big picture questions about the purpose and defensibility of law—for example, scrutinising the obligation to obey the law, the justification of punishment, and the circumstances in which we can engage in civil disobedience. The second half of the course will examine a variety of philosophically interesting legal questions. An indicative list includes: When should a court consider something proven? How should the law use algorithms? Should we defer to juries or professional judges? Does it make sense to treat a corporation as morally responsible? Throughout the course, we explore the connection between legal philosophy and other areas of philosophy—especially moral philosophy, political philosophy, and epistemology.

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the AT.

There will be a student-led group debate for which feedback will be provided.

Formative feedback will be given on a paper that will then be 'expanded and resubmitted' for the summative assessment. 

The following are readings that discuss representative issues covered in this course:

• Delmas, Candice (2018). A Duty to Resist: When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil. New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
• Kropotkin, Petr (2015). The Conquest of Bread. Penguin.
• Huemer, Michael (2012). The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to
• Coerce and the Duty to Obey. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Nagel, Thomas (1976) Moral Luck. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes. Vol. 50
• Jorgensen, Renée (2020). The rational impermissibility of accepting (some) racial generalizations. Synthese 197 (6):2415-2431.
• Hoskins, Zachary (2017). Punishment. Analysis 77 (3): 619–632.
• King, 'Letter from Birmingham Jail'

Essay (100%, 3500 words) in the WT.

The summative essay will be constructed using the shorter (compulsory) formative essay as the basis. This shorter paper will be 'expanded and resubmitted' for summative assessment, making use of the feedback provided by the lecturers.