Jurisprudence

LAW

742

Jurisprudence

I am often asked, Why study legal philosophy? What good is philosophy anyway? Professor Otto suggests that the answer is inherent in each of us whether we are aware of it nor not. Although philosophy is responsible for the choices we make and in setting the tone of human endeavor, in its unstudied form it lacks coherence and comprehensiveness. Hence, we should study it.In this class, we will survey the major schools of jurisprudence and fundamental ideas in the legal culture: natural law, historical jurisprudence, positivism, utilitarianism, sociological jurisprudence and fundamental ideas in the legal culture: realism, law and economics, critical legal theory and feminist jurisprudence. In the process of learning about these philosophical traditions, we will analyze cases from substantive areas of constitutional law, contracts, property, criminal law, domestic relations law, torts, anti-trust and environmental law. The goal will be to learn not only the jurisprudential theories but how they have been used to arrive at certain results and decisions.

Fall, Spring

Law

No