Undergraduate Course: Jurisprudence (LAWS08129)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | The course studies law as an institutional normative order within a philosophical and sociological context. Firstly it asks how law is to be seen as a system. What does it mean to say that the law is normative and does that presuppose a particular standard of behaviour? How does law and morality relate to each other, and what does this mean for the administration of justice, both in courts and the law making process? Secondly it looks at concepts within the law such as property, contract, responsibility and critically analyses them within a philosophical and sociological context, with special emphasis on theories from law and economics, Marxist and feminist legal critiques. Students will learn how jurisprudential theories both explain and influence legal practice, in particular in ethically controversial situations. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | This course is only open to visiting students coming through a direct exchange with the School of Law (this includes Erasmus students on a Law Exchange). |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
| Course Start Date |
18/09/2017 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
70 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
30 %,
Coursework
70 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Take home exam over 48 hours - 70% - the deadline for this exam must precede the unseen exam which must take place on the afternoon of the same day.
Unseen exam 30% (1 hour)- this must be taken in the afternoon (2.30pm if possible) of the hand-in date for the take-home examination.
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 1:00 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | | 1:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Sources of Law:
The students will be introduced to some of the classic writings in the philosophy of law, together with texts from the most contemporary jurisprudential debates. Students will reflect on how key legal concepts and ideas are shaped by historical, societal, economic and ethical considerations. Key concepts such as (legal) personhood, the role of contracts and free markets in modern societies, property and crimes against person and property will be analysed from economic, sociological, psychological, ethical and legal-theoretical perspectives. As several of the theorists come from outside the Scottish legal system, and are influenced in their thinking by their domestic legal system, students will at the same time be exposed to the similarities and differences that some other legal systems display in conceptualising and thinking about these core concepts.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will develop research skill to locate jurisprudential material across a variety of media, from traditional books and journals to a variety of digital resources, including academic blogs, newsgroups and discussion lists, social media and wikis. They will learn to use a variety of technological tools to communicate abstract ideas concisely, and contributing in this way to their own digital resources, e.g. through sharing of links through social media like Delicious, as part of a tutorial exercise. They will learn to form rational opinions in emotionally charged debates where diametrically opposed ethical commitments clash, form their own solution and learn to support it with intersubjectively valid arguments. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
The first lecture is on Monday 15 September 2014 at 11am in Lecture Theatre B, David Hume Tower. The second lecture is held on Thursday 11am in Lecture Theatre G.03, 50 George Square. |
| Keywords | Jurisprudence Ord |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Neil Walker
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Heather Haig
Tel: (0131 6)50 2053
Email: |
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