00385 - Philosophy of Law (R-Z)

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

After attending the course in legal philosophy and successfully passing the final examination, the student will be acquainted with the following topics:

- From a historical point of view:

• General definition and variants of the three main conceptions in legal philosophy: natural law theory, legal positivism, and legal realism

• Concept and history of natural law theory in its three main variants: naturalistic, voluntaristic, and rationalistic

• Concept of contractualism and of liberalism

• Concept and history of normativistic legal positivism, with particular reference to Kelsen and Hart

• Concept and history of monistic and reductionistic legal positivism, with particular reference to Bentham and Austin' analytical jurisprudence

• Concept of normativistic realism (Uppsala School), of American legal realism and of anti-formalism.

• Relevant issues in contemporary debate: neoconstitutionalism (Dworkin in particular), inclusive legal positivism, exclusive legal positivism, conventionalism, functionalism.

- From a theoretical point of view:

• Distinction among the concepts of validity, effectiveness, and justice of a norm

• Kinds of legal norms

• Theory of rights (Hohfeld) and principles

• Methods for interpreting statutes, use of analogical reasoning, and balancing of principles

Readings/Bibliography

----- Attending Students

a) C. Faralli (a cura di), Argomenti di teoria del diritto: Materiali per gli studenti, Nuova edizione, Giappichelli, Torino, 2022

b) C. Faralli, Le grandi correnti della filosofia del diritto: dai greci ai contemporanei, Nuova edizione con appendice antologica, Giappichelli, Torino, 2022.

 

----- Non-attending Students

a) C. Faralli (a cura di), Argomenti di teoria del diritto: Materiali per gli studenti, Nuova edizione, Giappichelli, Torino, 2022

b) C. Faralli, Le grandi correnti della filosofia del diritto: dai greci ai contemporanei, Nuova edizione con appendice antologica, Giappichelli, Torino, 2022.

c) One text to be selected from the following:

G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 1 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001), chaps. 4, 5, 8, 12, 16.

G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 2 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001), chaps 6, 7, 9, 13, 21.

G. Fassò, Storia della filosofia del diritto, vol. 3 (Rome and Bari: Laterza, 2001), chaps 1, 2, 10, 11, 13.

 

----- For students who are behind schedule with their exams

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.

 

----- For students who require a supplement of credits CFU for Philosophy of Law

1-2 credits: H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law, any edition, chapters 1 through 3.

3-4 credits: H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law, any edition, chapters 1 through 6.

5 credits: H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law, any edition, the whole book (but not the Postscript).

 

----- Erasmus Students

Students can choose one of the following two options:

- Option (I) (Only for students who will attend the lectures):

a) C. Faralli (a cura di), Argomenti di teoria del diritto: Materiali per gli studenti, Nuova edizione, Giappichelli, Torino, 2022

b) C. Faralli, Le grandi correnti della filosofia del diritto: dai greci ai contemporanei, Nuova edizione con appendice antologica, Giappichelli, Torino, 2022.

- Option (II):

2) Option B (a+b)

a) H. Kelsen, Introduction to the Problems of Legal Theory, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992.

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

Teaching methods

The course will be held in presence.

In general, the teacher will try to teach philosophical topics by eliciting discussion in class. Slides will be used to help students have a graphic representation of concepts and their historical developments. A multimedial blackboard will be used to comment and annotate texts under discussion directly on screen and to discuss in class the structure of the most significant theoretical problems.

Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to make exercises and tests online, on the Virtual platform of Unibo Virtuale, so as to make it possible for the students to check the degree of their understanding and the evolution of their learning. Tests to be made in group will also be organized. Software for tests online will be used, as well as software for online polls to gather students' opinions during classes. In particular, students will have the opportunity to answer online questions several times, to let them self-assess their understanding.

In parallel with the classes, one or more exercises will take place in presence or online, lasting about 2 hours, consisting in what follows. The teacher will briefly illustrate an open-ended question, on which the students will draft a text following a set of instructions previously provided by the teacher (within the time limits indicated by the teacher). Then, the teacher will present the optimal methods and contents of the answer to the previously given question, so that the students will be able to self-assess and correct their work. Finally, students will be left the time necessary for questions and requests for verification of any error.

This is a first-semester course. Please check the website https://dsg.unibo.it/it for the weekly schedule of the lectures and for the location.

Assessment methods

Student performance will be assessed through a final oral exam. Students registering for the exam must so do using the University's computer network Almaesami. The exam will be taken in presence. In any case, students are kindly requested to verify on ALMAESAMI the procedures for the specific call (appello) they will choose.

The final exam is meant 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.

Final Grading Scale: 

– The student’s grasp of the ground covered in class is limited to only a narrow range of issues, with an analytic ability that only comes out with the instructor’s help, even if the language used is on the whole correct. → 18–19

– The student can discuss a broader range of issues, but with a limited capacity for critical analysis, even if the language is correct. → 20–24

– The student can discuss a broad range of issues, demonstrating an independent capacity for critical analysis and a command of the terminology. → 25–29

– The student demonstrates a facility for discussion essentially across the entire spectrum of issues, with an ability to engage in independent critical analysis and make connections between arguments, coupled with a full command of the terminology and a capacity for argument formation and self-reflection. → 30–30 cum laude.

Students will be recognized as having attended the course in the current academic year only if they will bring at the exam the relevant attendance form filled out and signed during the course, attesting that they have attended at least 2/3 of classes (40 hours, either online or in presence). Attending students will possibly be tested on the specific content of the lectures listed in the form they have signed.

Students will be able to take the exam starting in January 2024.

There are no prerequisites that need to be satisfied for eligibility to take this exam.

Teaching tools

These include slides summarizing the main course topics, software to annotate texts and slides directly on screen, software (Rationale) to explain the structure of some theoretical problems, software to make tests online, software to make pools online during classes to improve the discussion.

All the information relative to the course, as well as any supplemental course material, will also be available online on the course's website (on Virtuale). 

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 Justice;

• Legal Logic and Argumentation;

• Law and the Cognitive Sciences;

• Sociology of Law;

• Applied Ethics: Bioethics and Professional Ethics.

Office hours

See the website of Corrado Roversi