Postgraduate Course: Natural Law: An Historical Introduction (LAWS11373)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores the genesis and development of natural law theories, from Ancient Greece to the early modern period. It will focus on the most primary sources on natural law, which would then form the basis for debate. |
| Course description |
The course will explore the genesis and development of natural law concepts from Ancient Greece to the early modern period. It will be mainly based on primary sources, complemented by selected literature. The course will focus on natural law ideas as elaborated by the following authors:
i. Plato
ii. Aristotle
iii. Greek and Roman Stoicism
iv. St Augustine
v. Aquinas
vi. The Thomistic tradition, and especially the Second Scholasticism
vii. The early modern Natural lawyers
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
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 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 4,
Summative Assessment Hours 4,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
168 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One essay worth 100% (5,000 words) |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided during each seminar, encouraging discussion, testing ideas and refining approaches to the texts. Written feedback will be given on the formative essay |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- critically identify, define and analyse complex concepts and appreciate their development over time
- acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of important legal works and of their interaction with philosophical issues;
- Demonstrate advanced skills in reading, understanding and adopting an independent critical position in relation to complex material; and
- enhance their oral and written communication skills through essays and active participation to the debate in class.
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Reading List
key readings:
¿ Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics and Politics (selected passages)
¿ Augustine, City of God and Confessions (selected passages)
¿ Plato, Republic (selected passages); Laws (selected passages)
¿ Epictetus, Discourses (selected passages)
¿ Cicero, On duties (selected passages) and On the laws (selected passages)
¿ Seneca, Epistles (selected passages)
¿ Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (selected passages)
¿ Isidore of Seville, Etymologies (selected passages)
¿ Vitoria, On Civil Power (selected passages), On Law (selected passages) and On the Law of War (selected passages)
¿ Suarez, On the Laws (selected passages)
¿ Grotius, The Law of War and Peace (selected passages)
¿ Pufendorf, Two Books on the Elements of Universal Jurisprudence (selected passages)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The course will encourage the students to engage with primary sources and to refine their critical and analytical skills. It will help them to develop a critical approach to texts and ideas, and to become more conscious of the historical development of the latter. |
| Keywords | natural law. history of legal philosophy |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Guido Rossi
Tel: (0131 6)50 2052
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr David Morris
Tel: (0131 6)50 2010
Email: |
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