COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is divided broadly in to three parts. The first part opens with general overview of subject matter of jurisprudence. This is followed by a substantial study on the origin of legal thought and its development, generally known as natural law theories during early societies, from communalism, slavery and feudalism. It explains what philosophers view law in that particular time. The second part is broadly covered by modern thought on law which happened after industrial revolution in Europe. Under this period the bourgeoisie class overthrown the feudal lords and took over the power and rejected Natural law and adopted positivism. In order to understand the legal concept of positivism, we begin with a study of sovereign as the law maker and command as an important aspect of positivism. This is followed by the revival of natural law towards the end of 18th century and the Marxist Theories of law and state. Under this aspect, we will look at some of the foundation principles that all of those theories labeled Marxist share, and then will consider the distinctive Marxist contribution to the understanding of law. We will conclude the second part by studying Historical jurisprudence and its contribution to the understanding law.
The third part of the course seeks to understand how modern western law has developed and what has been distinctive about law in capitalist societies, in comparison with the law of earlier ages and other social system. This will cover sociological jurisprudence in continental Europe, American and Scandinavian Realism. The third part will be concluded by studying contemporary Critical jurisprudence that is Feminism and the critical Legal studies movement .under this aspect, the study seeks to understand the feminist jurisprudence as the output of women consciously positioning themselves as feminists seeking to represent their experiences, reflections and attempting to express the lived meaning of the feminine in a dominant masculine culture where law is clearly relied upon as a crucial regulatory and structuring instrument.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the course, students will be able:
- To acquire knowledge, skills and tools on the development,
analysis and application of various philosophies and theories on law , in
particular
- examine the
theories, schools and the philosophies of Law
- Trace the historical antecedent of the development of
philosophy of laws, place and functions of law legal theory/philosophy
- Analyse the
trends in jurisprudence and contemporary theories and ideas on law so that they
come out of the course as critical thinkers and analyst lawyer
COURSE CONTENT
Emerging issues in jurisprudence, human rights jurisprudence
Introduction to Philosophy With emphasis on the theory of knowledge and a theoretical evaluation of the method of social sciences; legal philosophy;
Concept of law
- Theories of interpretation and adjudication
- Theories of value (concept of justice)
- Major Schools of jurisprudence- natural law,
positivism, historical and sociological jurisprudence, Marxist theory of state
and law and law
- Contemporary
legal theories critical legal studies
- Jurimetrics;
feminist jurisprudence
- Jurisprudence on the value and quality of life eg abortion and cloning
COMPULSORY READING MATERIALS
- Conforth, M. (3 Vols: Dialectical Materialism, Historical Materialism and the Theory of Knowledge).
- Dworkin R. M., Taking Rights Seriously (Backworth 1997).
- Fuller, L. L. The Morality of Law (1963) et passim.
- Fundamentals of Marxists Leninist Philosophy, Progress Publishers, (Moscow, 1964) et passim.
OPTIONAL READING MATERIALS
- Friedmann, W, Legal Theory, 5th ed; Stevens and sons, 1967.
- Hart, H.L.A., The Concept of Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961)
- Id., The Prevince of Jurisprudence Determined (ed., H. L. A. Hart, Weidenfel & Nicholson, 1954).