91375 - Legal Philosophy And Sociology Of Law

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course unit, students: - know the history of legal philosophy thanks to the development, during the course unit, of a thematic analysis centered on fundamental theoretical problems and argumentative patterns designed to resolve those issues also under a perspective approach; - know the classical and contemporary theoretical-sociological debate on the function of law, the relationship between social and legal norms, the social nature of the concepts of status and role; - are capable to deal with problems of theoretical and legal nature, in a logical manner and by relying on a solid argumentation, and to discuss those problems in an interactive way by efficiently communicating the advantages of multiple their multiple structures and issues.

Course contents

A) The first part (Sociology of Law) will be delivered in presence. The students will survey the main classic and contemporary approaches to the sociology of law: the focus will be on the classic integration theories and theories of conflict: in particular, the Durkheimian, Weberian and Marxist approaches will be analysed.

B) In the middle part, which will take place online, the students will explore topics such as: recent theories on moral reasoning, affective primacy, and confirmative thought as keys to understand the human behaviour in the digital dimension; aggressivity in the online arena against the individual (e.g. cyberbullying, revenge porn) and against groups (e.g. call out culture, hate speech and use of memes); polarisation and echo chambers.

C) In the last part, which will be delivered in presence, the three main conceptions developed in the philosophy of law—namely, natural law theory, legal positivism, and legal realism—will be presented, emphasizing their theoretical implications; then, some contemporary trends (such as legal feminism) will be introduced and discussed, also in connection with the traditional views.

Readings/Bibliography

1) (Sociology of Law):
Javier Treviño, The Sociology of Law. Classical and Contemporary Perspectives, New York, Routledge, 2008, chaps. 4-7 (the anthological parts are not included).

2) (Contemporary sociological-theoretical issues in the online dimension):
The material uploaded in Virtuale.

3) (Philosophy of Law):
Raymond Wacks, Understanding Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Legal Theory, 6th edition, Oxford University Press, 2021, chap. 2 (2.1-2.6), chap. 3 (3.1-3.3), chap. 4 (4.1-4.3), chap. 6, chap. 9 (9.6-9.8) and par. 14.2.

Erasmus Students: Erasmus students will study on the same readings as non-Erasmus students.

Nonattending Students: Students of LEGS - Legal Studies have mandatory attendance, which will be recorded at the beginning of each class. The other, non-attending students are required to download the relevant teaching material from the course's website on Virtuale.

Teaching methods

The first and third part of the course will be delivered in presence. Only the second part will be delivered online at the middle of the course, with exploration of websites and interactive discussions.

In accordance with the training objectives of the course, some of the lessons throughout the course will be interactive in nature: to consolidate the explanations, students will be involved in discussions or laboratory exercises.

Apart from slides and other teaching materials, that will be published on the platform of the course Virtuale, the teacher will use software for the construction of online polls that will serve as a means to interact during some lectures

Assessment methods

Student evaluations are based on a final oral exam, which students can register for on the UNIBO Almaesami platform. The exam will be taken in presence. In any case students are kindly asked to look at the specific appello under ALMAESAMI in order to know the modalities chosen by the teacher.

The exam will be aimed at evaluating not only the students’ knowledge of the content covered by the course but also their ability to critically think through the theoretical issues discussed in class. This means that, in addition to knowing what is in the readings, students are expected to demonstrate that they understand the main concepts and conceptions and the problems they raise.

The exam will include at least three questions: one on the sociology of law, one on the contemporary sociological-theoretical issues in the online dimension, and one about the legal-philosophical conceptions.

The grading system will be used to assess three levels of achievement. A mark of exceptional achievement will be awarded to students who can demonstrate an overall organic understanding of the themes and issues covered in class, coupled with an ability to critically reason through them, and to do so with a good command of the language specific to the two disciplines. A mark of acceptable achievement will be assigned to students who demonstrate a capacity for synthesis and analysis but are not fully articulate in doing so or are not accurate in their use of the language. Finally, students whose knowledge is gappy (they may unfamiliar with some of the material and readings in the syllabus or be unable to find their bearings within this material) or whose language skills and vocabulary are inadequate will receive a mark of inadequate achievement.

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.

 

Alternatively, students may choose to take the exam in the following way:

- for the first part, by taking a written multiple-choice test in a date that will be communicated during the course. Textbooks and notes may not be used during the test.

- for the second part, by uploading to Virtuale, within the date fixed for the January or February exam, the result of a research prepared in groups or individually, according to the instructions posted on Virtuale.

- for the third part, by taking, in a date that will be communicated during the course, a written test consisting of 3 open-ended questions, where each question will allow to obtain up to a maximum of 10 points, and where the acquired knowledge, as much as the critical and methodological skills of the student, and the ability to connect parts of the program in an interdisciplinary way, will be evaluated. Textbooks and notes may not be used during the test.

The final assessment will be given by averaging the assessment for the first and third part. Up to a maximum of 1,5 points, then, may be added to this assessment, in consideration of the quality of the work done for the second part.

The final resul will be communicated to the students, which will then enroll for the exam of January or February. Students, at this point, will not need to actually come to the exam, as grades will be registered automatically.

Students need not pass any introductory courses in order to take the exam.

Teaching tools

All course information and class supplements will be made available at the course's website (on Virtuale).

Students who have a problem with the topics of the course are welcome to contact prof. Annalisa Verza (annalisa.verza@unibo.it).

Office hours

See the website of Annalisa Verza