00385 - Philosophy of Law (A-C)

Learning outcomes

Students will be introduced to the critical study of the history of legal philosophy, to the fundamental issues of legal theory (such as the typology of norms and the interpretation, integration, and systematization of law), and to the most relevant authors and problems discussed in the contemporary legal-philosophical debate. The course is meant to provide first-year students in legal studies both with a non-superficial knowledge of the historical development of theoretical thinking about law in the Western philosophical culture and with an introduction to the basic concepts of legal theory.

Course contents

 

 

A critical, theoretical, and historical introduction to the main concepts in legal philosophy, with a focus on the following topics:

- Natural-law theory and legal positivism

- Normativistic dualism, with particular reference to Kelsen and the civil-law tradition

- Reductionistic monism, with particular reference to analytic jurisprudence and the common-law tradition

- The normativistic realism of the Uppsala School and of H. L. A. Hart

- Law and morality

- The distinguishing features of law

- The law and its sources

- Language and the interpretation of law

- Topical issues in contemporary debate

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

------ Attending Students

a) A.A.V.V., Argomenti di teoria del diritto. Materiali per gli studenti, Giappichelli, Torino, 2016.

b) C. Faralli, Le grandi correnti della filosofia del diritto, Giappichelli, Torino, 2014 (new ed. with an appendix which is a constitutive part of the program).

c) G. Bongiovanni, G. Pino, C. Roversi (a cura di), Che cosa è il diritto. Ontologie e concezioni del giuridico, Giappichelli, Torino, 2016 (i seguenti saggi: G. Pino, Diritto e morale; G. Zaccaria, Il diritto come pratica interpretativa: Ronald Dworkin e l'ermeneutica; A. Facchi, Diritto e potere nel femminismo; C. Valentini, I Critical Legal Studies e l'ontologia del diritto).

d) P. Grossi, Ritorno al diritto, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2015.

e) The course will include two seminars. One is titled "Etica e politica nella prospettiva degli studi di genere" (in the first semester), is coordinated by Carla Faralli and Raffaella Lamberti, and awards an extra 3 credits for attending students. Other seminar, in the II semester, is focused on "Male violence against women" (all information on both Seminars are available online at the website and details about the program will be provided at the beginning of class).

Students attending these seminars and studying these texts will be relieved of studying the texts listed under d). Details in this regard will be given during the course.

----- Non-attending Students

a) A.A.V.V., Argomenti di teoria del diritto. Materiali per gli studenti, Giappichelli, Torino, 2016.

b) C. Faralli, Le grandi correnti della filosofia del diritto, Giappichelli, Torino, 2014 (new ed. with an appendix which is a constitutive part of the program).

c) P. Grossi, Ritorno al diritto, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2015.

d) Six chapters to be selected from the following:

G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 1 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001).

G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 2 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001).

G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 3 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001).

 

----- For students who are behind schedule with their exams and who are enrolled in the five-year programme in Giurisprudenza (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 for non-attending students relative to the academic year in which they registered. 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 the Magistrale 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 other programme that required less number of credit CFU, have to supplement the exam in legal philosophy with one or more additional CFU in order for the equivalent exam to count under the Laurea Magistrale programme. Students required to supplement this exam with one ore more additional credit will be tested (oral exam only) on the following text:

P. Grossi, Ritorno al diritto, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2015 (2 or more chapters of your own choosing; the number of chapters will depend on the amount of credits that should be supplemented).

 

----- Erasmus Students

a) A.A.V.V., Argomenti di teoria del diritto. Materiali per gli studenti, Giappichelli, Torino, 2016.

b) C. Faralli, Le grandi correnti della filosofia del diritto, Giappichelli, Torino, 2014 (new ed. with an appendix which is a constitutive part of the program).

In addition, the student has to choose one of the following books:

-H. Kelsen, Introduction to the Problems of Legal Theory, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992;

-H. L. A. Hart, The Concept of Law (with a Postscript), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012.

 

 

Teaching methods

The lectures will either cover course contents or will consist in the reading and commenting of a text related to those contents. Further information about the course will be provided in class and published online.

This is a first-semester course. Please check the website www.giuri.unibo.it for the room and the weekly schedule of the lectures.

Assessment methods

The evaluation will consist of an oral exam intended to test not only the students' knowledge of the main developments of the history of legal philosophy up to the contemporary debate, but also their understanding of the complex theoretical issues discussed during the course. Hence, the exam will not necessarily dwell on specific textual passages but will rather test the students' ability to argue a philosophical thesis and understand the problems connected to it. Normally, the oral examination consists of a series of questions on the texts of the course, and the final grade is the result of an average of the results of the answers to these questions. When students achieve an organic view of the issues addressed in lectures, demonstrating a mastery of the specific terminology and conceptual framework of the discipline, they will be assessed with marks of excellence. Lack of concision and the usage of language and terminology which are not always appropriate will lead to a fair evaluation; knowledge gaps and inappropriate language - although in a context of acceptable knowledge - will not go beyond the grade threshold “sufficient”. Knowledge gaps (such as to have ignored some of the texts in the program for the course), inappropriate language, and lack of any overall view of the basic issues discussed in textbooks and during the course that will lead to an insufficient assessment.

Students registering for the exam must so do using the University's Almaesami computer network.

Students will be recognized as having attended the course in the current academic year only if they come to the exam with their personal attendance sheet: this sheet can be downloaded from the Web and will have to be filled out and signed, showing each of the lectures that have been attended. Attending students are required to attend at least 2/3 of the lectures, corresponding to 40 hours, and will be tested on the specific content of lectures shown on the attendance sheet.

The attendance sheet will be valid up to and including December 2019 exam session. Students will be able to take the exam starting in January 2019. There are no prerequisites that need to be satisfied for eligibility to take this exam.

 

THESIS

Students planning to write a dissertation on any contents or issues covered in the course are recommended to include one or more of the following courses in their curriculum depending on their interests:

• Theory of Law and Justice;
• Logic and Legal Reasoning;
• Sociology of Law;
• Applied Ethics: Bioethics and Professional Ethics.

 

Teaching tools

Reading and commenting of texts in class, and tests by which to assess student performance.

All 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  https://iol.unibo.it/ oppure su https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/carla.faralli

 

Students with learning disorders or other impairments who need special aids can point that out to the instructor, who will make appropriate arrangements to that end.

Office hours

See the website of Carla Faralli