00385 - Philosophy of Law (R-Z)

Learning outcomes

Students will be introduced to the critical study of legal philosophy, as well as to some important parts of legal theory — such as the typology of norms and the interpretation, integration, and systematization of law — and to the most relevant issues in the contemporary legal-philosophical debate.

Course contents

A critical, theoretical, and historical introduction to the main concepts in legal philosophy, with specific reference to the following:

• Natural-law theory and legal positivism

• Dualism and emergence of the ought in the civil-law tradition

• Monism and the elimination of the ought in the common-law tradition

• The normativist realism of the Uppsala School and of H. L. A. Hart

• The law and its sources

• Language and the interpretation of law

• Method and system in law

• Law, morality, and justice

• Relevant issues in contemporary debate

Readings/Bibliography

Attending Students

1) Textbook Part (Written Exam)

E. Pattaro, Filosofia del diritto. Lezioni di filosofia del diritto per l'A.A. 2009-2010, Gedit, Bologna, 2009.

2) Focus Part (Oral Exam)

Students have two options for this part:

Option One

a) C. Faralli, La filosofia del diritto contemporanea (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2002), and

b) G. Bongiovanni, Costituzionalismo e teoria del diritto (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2005), chaps. 1 and 2

Option Two

a) C. Faralli, La filosofia del diritto contemporanea (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2002), Introduction and chaps. 1, 2, and 5, and

b) attending the seminar titled “Ethics, Metaethics, and Applied Ethics” and selecting for study any four chapters from the book Oggettività e morale: La riflessione etica del Novecento, ed. G. Bongiovanni (Milan: Mondadori, 2007). Further seminars and side lectures could be indicated during the course.

 

Non-attending Students

1) Textbook Part (Written Exam)

E. Pattaro, Filosofia del diritto. Lezioni di filosofia del diritto per l'A.A. 2009-2010, Gedit, Bologna, 2009.

2) Focus Part (Oral Exam)

a) C. Faralli, La filosofia del diritto contemporanea (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2002), and

b) G. Bongiovanni, Costituzionalismo e teoria del diritto (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2005), chaps. 1 and 2, and

c) one text to be selected from the following:

• G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 1 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001), any five chapters from the volume

• G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 2 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001), any five chapters from the volume

• G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 3 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001), any five chapters from the volume

 

For students who are behind schedule with their exams and who are enrolled in the five-year programme inGiurisprudenza (Magistrale), the four-year programme in Giurisprudenza (vecchio or nuovo ordinamento), in the three-year programme in Scienze giuridiche, or in the two-year Laurea Specialistica in Giurisprudenza

There are two options for students who are behind schedule (students who have registered for this course in a previous academic year and have yet to take the exam): They can choose the syllabus for non-attending students who have registered for the course in the current academic year, or they can choose the syllabus relative to the academic year in which they registered (the exam in this latter case will only be oral). Any changes a student wishes to make to the syllabus will have to be made in agreement with the professor.

 

Students who have to earn credits required under theMagistrale programme, having transferred from the three-year programme in Scienze Giuridiche or from the two-year Laurea Specialistica in Giurisprudenza

Students who are enrolled in the three-year programme in Scienze Giuridiche or in the two-year Laurea Specialistica in Giurisprudenza and who have already taken the exam in legal philosophy under either of those two programmes are required to supplement this exam with one additional credit (1 CFU) in order for the equivalent exam to count under the Laurea Magistrale programme.

Students required to supplement this exam with an additional credit will be tested (oral exam only) on the following text:

G. Zagrebelsky, Il diritto mite (Turin: Einaudi, 1992), chaps. 2 and 3

 

Erasmus Students

1) Written Part

E. Pattaro, Filosofia del diritto. Lezioni di filosofia del diritto per l'A.A. 2009-2010, Gedit, Bologna, 2009.

2) Oral Part

Students have three options for this part:

Option One

a) C. Faralli, La filosofia del diritto contemporanea (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2002), and

b) G. Bongiovanni, Costituzionalismo e teoria del diritto (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2005), chaps. 1 and 2

Option Two

a) C. Faralli, La filosofia del diritto contemporanea (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2002), Introduction and chaps. 1, 2, and 5, and

b) attending the seminar titled “Ethics, Metaethics, and Applied Ethics” and selecting for study any four chapters from the book Oggettività e morale: La riflessione etica del Novecento, ed. G. Bongiovanni (Milan: Mondadori, 2007). Further seminars and side lectures could be indicated during the course.

 

Option Three

a) C. Faralli, La filosofia del diritto contemporanea (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2002), and

b) one reading selected from the following:

• C. S. Nino, Derecho, moral y política (Barcelona: Ariel 1994)

• R. Alexy, Begriff und Geltung des Rechts (Freiburg: Alber 1992)

• H. L. A. Hart, The Concept of Law, 2nd ed. with a Postscript (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994), chaps. 1–6 and the Postscript

• J. Coleman, The Practice of Principle (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), part 2

• M. Troper, La théorie du droit, le droit, l'état, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2001.

Teaching methods

The course will consist of lectures and a seminar: The lectures will either cover course contents or will consist in the reading and commenting of a text related to those contents; the seminar, for its part, will select an issue for in-depth study.

This year's seminar will consist of eight lectures under the title “Etica, meta-etica ed etica applicata,” and will count as an addition to the regular course under Option Two above for the oral exam. Students will have to attend at least five of the eight lectures in order for their attendance to count, to this end filling out a form handed out at the beginning of the seminar. The schedule for the seminar lectures and further information about the course will be provided in class and published online at www.cirsfid.unibo.it/didattica/filosofiadeldiritto . Further seminars and side lectures could be indicated during the course.

Per l'orario delle lezioni, gli studenti sono invitati a consultare il sito della Facoltà.

This is a first-semester course: Classes will meet starting on 21 September 2009 on Via Belmeloro, Room A (Aula A). Please check on the Faculty website for the weekly schedule of the lectures.

Assessment methods

Student performance will be assessed through a final exam having a written and an oral part, successful completion of the former being a prerequisite for admission to the latter. The written part will consist of a multiple-choice test on the textbook by E. Pattaro titled Filosofia del diritto. Lezioni di filosofia del diritto per l'A.A. 2009-2010 (Bologna: Gedit, 2009).

Students registering for the exam must so do using the Law School's computer network: A single registration will count for both the written and oral part of the exam.

Students recognized as having attended the course in the current academic year will be able to take the exam starting in January. There are no prerequisites that need to be satisfied for eligibility to take this exam.

Teaching tools

These include handouts summarizing the main course topics, the reading and commenting of texts in class, the focus seminar, and tests by which to assess student performance.

All the information relative to the course, along with any notice the instructors may give, as well as any supplemental course material, will be available online at www.cirsfid.unibo.it/didattica/filosofiadeldiritto.

Dissertation thesis 

Students wishing to write a thesis in this subject area are advised to include the following courses in their curriculum:

• Theory of Law and of Legal Interpretation

• Legal Logic and Argumentation

• Sociology of Law 

• Applied Ethics

Office hours

See the website of Giorgio Bongiovanni