PHIL 311: Philosophy of Law

PHIL 311-001: Philosophy of Law
(Fall 2019)

12:00 PM to 01:15 PM MW

Krug Hall 19

Section Information for Fall 2019

  • Fulfills the requirement for one course in ethics, social and political philosophy for the Philosophy major 
  • Fulfills a requirement for the Philosophy and Law concentration and minor

What gives the state the authority to punish criminals? How does a judge know which way to rule in a case? Is an unjust law still a law? How should the law manage the tension between civil liberties and civil rights? In this course, we look at how we should ask these fundamental philosophical questions about the law and how we should answer them. We consider three broad areas of inquiry: the nature and value of law, criminal law and punishment, and constitutional law.

View 1 Other Section of this Course in this Semester »

Tags:

Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Investigation of theories of natural law, legal positivism, and legal realism as they pertain to some of the central philosophical questions about law. Limited to three attempts.
Recommended Prerequisite: 3 hours of PHIL or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.